The myth of the quiet but unbeatable Russian, Fedor Emelianenko, turned into an undisputed reality as he destroyed former two-time UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia in a scant 36 seconds in the main event at the Honda Center. Emelianenko, 28-1, who was the PRIDE heavyweight champion from 2003 until the company closed in 2007, became the first World Alliance of Mixed Martial arts heavyweight champion with the win.
It was billed as for the first undisputed world heavyweight title, although clearly “undisputed” is the wrong word to describe the first title created by an outside sanctioning body as opposed to a champion declared by a promotional company.
The industry already has two UFC heavyweight champions, in Randy Couture, the last champion who never lost, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who the company is recognizing as interim champion due to Couture’s resignation from the organization. There will be an Elite XC champion after a match with Antonio Silva vs. Justin Eilers on Saturday night in Stockton, Calif. Strikeforce also has a heavyweight champion in Alistair Overeem and IFL has one in Roy Nelson.
Emelianenko, showing amazing reflexes for a heavyweight, came out throwing punches before Sylvia even realized what hit him. The 6-foot-8 fighter, who weighed 263 at weigh-ins but was probably closer to 280 come fight time, went down from the initial barrage. Emelianenko, 6 feet and 230 pounds, choked him out on the ground before the sellout crowd of 13,988.
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The more time passes, the worse for Randy.
ReplyDeleteFedor is good but he needs to beat Randy, or he can re-beat Noguiera as a reminder.