JAPAN WILL HOST RETURN OF “LAST EMPEROR”
Fedor Emelianenko
Los Angeles, CA-If you watched the freak show that was Bellator 142, you saw Pride Fighting Championships founder Nobuyuki Sakakibara bring out the legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko (34-4, 1 NC) to announce his return to mixed martial arts competition. Fedor will fight on New Year’s Eve in Japan for a new organization that is essentially the rebirth of the beloved Pride banner.
QUESTIONS YET TO BE ANSWERED
Who will Fedor fight? Will it be in a ring or a cage? Will there be a ten-minute opening round? There are several questions that will be answered in the next few months. Fedor’s return will no doubt generate a lot of buzz and bring Bellator, who will be part of this event, into the world spotlight in a new way.
WHY BELLATOR & NOT UFC?
Many fans have been left to wonder in the wake of Fedor’s return why he elected not to fight in the UFC. The answer is more complex than it appears. Fedor likely refused to UFC’s offer based on financial information, which makes a lot of sense. Dana White, long an opponent of Fedor’s, no doubt low-balled the legend to stroke his own ego. Fedor compiled a resume that has made him the greatest heavyweight (265) martial artist of all time without the help of the UFC. He still may fight under the Zuffa banner, as this deal in Japan is only supposed to last for one or two fights.
“MIGHTY MOUSE” NOT SO WHEN IT COMES TO ENTERTAINMENT
Demetrious “Mighty Bore” Johnson
Demetrious Johnson (23-2-1) is one of the best fighters in the world, but the UFC flyweight (125) champ causes fans to need “Viagra” as Pedro would say. People just cannot get up for his fights. Yes, he is the undisputed champion. Yes, he just beat his biggest rival John Dodson (17-7) for the second time. This has been met with a resounding “so what?”. The guys can move, he’s fast, he is great technically, but his fights generally do not have the drama fans want to see. They usually involve DJ picking apart some hapless opponent for 5 rounds and winning on the cards. Fans booed this latest performance, and that says a lot about what type of entertainment value Johnson has. Best bet is to move up to bantamweight (135) for a unification bout with kingpin TJ Dillashaw (12-2).
FORMER KING MIR LOST A TOUGH ONE
The good news for Frank Mir (18-10) is he did not go out there and get embarrassed on Saturday night. The bad news is he lost a unanimous nod over three to Andrei Arlovski (25-10, 1 NC), who will probably get the next title shot after Fabricio Werdum (20-5-1) whoops Cain Velasquez (13-2) again in early 2016. That is, of course, if Velasquez stays healthy, at which he has proven to be rather piss-poor. This could have been Frank Mir’s shot to reclaim the heavyweight (265) title he lost back in 2009. Instead, this will be a major setback for the 36-year-old vet.
“RUMBLE” JOHNSON GETS BACK IN WIN COLUMN
Light heavyweight (205) knockout artist Anthony Johnson (20-5) scored the 14th KO of his career just 28 seconds into round 2 versus Jimi Manuwa (15-2). It will be at least a few more fights before he gets another crack at the title, unless the real champ Jon Jones (21-1) makes a return in the near future.
PAIGE VANZANT RISES AS A CONTENDER
Strawweight (115) VanZant (6-1) probably will not be taking on champion “Joanna J” any time soon, but she got a nice submission this weekend. Alex Chambers (5-3) was her victim, who was submitted in round three by armbar 1:01 in.
soundcloud.com/zak-young-2
Zack “Attack” Young
FEDOR EMELIANENKO RETURN TOPS MMA NOTES