FEDOR EMELIANENKO TO FACE JOSH BARNETT FOR HEAVYWEIGHT MMA SUPREMACY

The undisputed best heavyweight MMA fighter in the world, Fedor Emelianenko, has confirmed that he’ll face former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett at Affliction III scheduled for August 1^st at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.  Fedor will defend his WAMMA Heavyweight Championship, while Barnett will be faced with the daunting task of handing “The Last Emperor” his first legitimate mixed martial arts defeat.

Fedor Emelianenko may very well be the true ‘baddest man on the planet’.   His record in MMA competition is a spectacular 30-1-1, and the lone loss has to be put into context—the loss came in a fight against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka on an event held by the now defunct RINGS promotion in Japan.  The event was a tournament format, and Kohsaka cut Fedor with an illegal elbow strike.  Due to the rules of the tournament, however, one man was required to advance and since Fedor couldn’t continue his opponent moved on to the next round.   Fedor would avenge this dubious setback in 2005 at PRIDE Bushido 6, beating Kohsaka mercilessly and forcing the doctor to stop the contest after the first round. 

Most recently, he’s fought in the US for the MMA promotional arm of the Affliction Clothing company.  At the first two Affliction events, he defeated two former UFC champions—Tim Sylvia, whom he tapped out with a rear naked choke in just :36 seconds at Affliction:  Banned and Andrei Arlovski, whom he knocked out at 3:14 of the first round. 

Josh Barnett was a contemporary of Fedor’s in the now defunct Japanese MMA promotion PRIDE, but the two men never fought under that banner.  Barnett will enter the bout with a professional MMA record of 24-5, and off of victories against Pedro Rizzo and Gilbert Yvel on the first two Affliction events.  Barnett is also a superstar in Japanese professional wrestling, and still enjoys several big paydays annually for Antonio Inoki’s IGF promotion.  He’s considered by most MMA experts to be the #2 heavyweight in the world. 

The matchup presents a decided contrast in personalities, with the fun loving American Barnett a diametric opposite from his taciturn Russian opponent.  Physically, Barnett is an imposing physical presence at 6’3” 250 pounds which in theory at least should be an asset against the shorter WAMMA champion.  Of course both of Fedor’s previous two victories came against fighters even taller than Barnett (Arlovski at 6’4” and Sylvia at 6’8”) with those opponents lasting less than four minutes combined. 

Barnett’s fighting style, meanwhile, is dramatically different than either Arlovski or Sylvia.  Along with Fedor, Barnett may have the most dangerous all around skill set in the sport and certainly at the heavyweight level.  He’s a powerful wrestler, but unlike many amateur wrestlers who come into the sport has been trained in submission wrestling.  In other words, he’s not only adept at taking down and controlling opponents but ending fights.  He’s also improved dramatically in his standup ability to the point that he may be equally as adept in his striking as he is on the ground. 

Of course, theoretical matchups are only good until the bell rings.  The reality is that there is simply no blueprint or gameplan for how to beat Fedor Emelianenko because—with the exception of his controversial RINGS setback—he’s never lost.  It’s safe to say that Josh Barnett will be facing the biggest challenge of his professional life on August 1^st.