Fedor Emelianenko vs. Shinya Aoki in 'Special Sparring Exhibition'

Two of the best MMA fighters in the world are returning to the ring next week to face off against each other in what is being referred to as a "special sparring exhibition" but sounds more like a silly waste of time for everyone involved.

Fedor Emelianenko, the best heavyweight in MMA, is going to grapple with Shinya Aoki, one of the world's best lightweights, at Wednesday's M-1 Challenge event in Japan. The official announcement of the meeting said the rules of the competition are still being negotiated, but it sounds like it's going to be five minutes of the two fighters trying out submission holds on each other.

Why are they doing this? Who knows? Obviously, Aoki could never hang with Fedor in any fight that included any type of full-contact striking, but I guess the two of them just feel like doing a little bit of rolling around.

And while they're obviously free to do whatever they want, I can't help but feel extremely disappointed. I want to see Aoki and Fedor fighting in MMA against top opponents in their own weight classes, not grappling with each other in a contest that won't prove anything for either one of them.

I don't agree with UFC President Dana White's criticisms of Fedor, but I do think he makes one legitimate point: When a fighter is in the UFC, we know we're going to see him face off against good competition on a regular basis. We can't say that about Fedor. The best we're getting for now is Fedor in a "special sparring exhibition," and we don't know when we'll see him in a real MMA fight.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

4-23-2009 @ 2:01PM

Eric said...

This gives me the feeling that we will see Fedor fighting in Japan for Dream soon. This must be a publicity stunt to rouse interest.

4-24-2009 @ 9:55AM

Michael David Smith said...

That's a very good point. An exhibition like this doesn't make much sense unless it's the first step in promoting a future card on which Fedor and Aoki will both be fighting.

4-24-2009 @ 9:47AM

mitchell said...

This match seems cool from a technical, grappling aspect. There probably won't be much blood or carnage but this should be a great exhibition for fight fans. Is an event 'boring' whenever there is a lack of knockouts and highlights?
"When a fighter is in the UFC, we know we're going to see him face off against good competition on a regular basis. We can't say that about Fedor."
Fedor fights more often (sambo, judo, grappling tournaments included, mma ) than almost all of the UFC fighters. Nogueira-2 fights in 2008, Mir 2 fights in 2008, Lesnar 3 fights 2008. Couture 1 fight.
"Dana White: Nog was a long time ago. Sylvia wasn’t even close to great, and Arlovski has no chin."
Coleman was washed up, Hong Man Choi has no heart, Heath Herring sucks, Randleman didn't juice enough, Cro Cop is soft...Many of Fedor's 'crappy' opponents ended up in the UFC.
It is too bad if one can not appreciate fighting for the technical aspects but only for carnage.

4-24-2009 @ 9:58AM

"Fedor fights more often (sambo, judo, grappling tournaments included, mma ) than almost all of the UFC fighters."

That's a good point, if you're satisfied with finding a low-quality YouTube of Fedor in a sambo match. Personally, I want to watch the best MMA fighters fighting in MMA, not in sambo, judo and grappling tournaments. Fedor is the best MMA fighter in the world, and as an MMA fan it saddens me that the sport's best athlete is doing stuff like this instead of fighting Josh Barnett or Alistair Overeem or Frank Mir or Brock Lesnar.

4-24-2009 @ 10:22AM

Fedor is a completely different animal than most MMA fighters. He doesn't fight for money, fame, or even his own legacy. He fights for God and Russia.

I like Dana & the UFC, but if they cared as much about the "sport of mma" as they say they do, they would be reasonable in their negotiations with Fedor.

4-24-2009 @ 12:58PM

richardbikle said...

We all want to see Fedor fight. Like said, Fedor is fighting. The UFC cares about money, MMA is just how they make it. Their slogan should be "the best fighters in the world - that signed our contract". Nobody rides a fighter's back better than the UFC.
Anybody heard from John Fitch lately?

4-24-2009 @ 3:43PM

"Personally, I want to watch the best MMA fighters fighting in MMA, not in sambo, judo and grappling tournaments."
Silva doesn't want to be in the UFC, he would rather box Roy Jones Jr than fight Leites. BJ Penn likes jiu-jitsu competition. Is that a problem?
Do you fight? Do you understand there is risk involved with MMA?
I don't care if Fedor fights Cheick Kongo, mark Coleman, Carwin, Herring, Hardonk, Lesnar, or anyone else with UFC.
Fedor has given more than enough to the sport of MMA and he's earned the right to fight who he wants, when he wants, and for his asking price.

4-24-2009 @ 4:45PM

Of course Fedor has earned the right to do what he wants. No one is disputing that. What's at issue is that MMA fans want to see Fedor fighting high-level opponents in MMA, and Fedor has only done that twice since taking on Cro Cop in August of 2005. If two good opponents for Fedor in four years is good enough for you, fine. If it's good enough for Fedor, fine. That doesn't mean I have to like it.

4-24-2009 @ 9:13PM

Jason said...

Michael David, easy on scewing Fedors accomplishments. He's fought two top 10 heavyweights in about 7 months time, and won in 36 seconds and 3minutes. Who has Anderson Silva fought in his last two fights - Cote and Lietes, yeah Who?, and it took 3 rounds and 5 rounds.
If Fedor decided today he'll have an exhibition during the next week then it what it is, I think it's interesting, others think we'll never see him fight again for some reason? If he took 3 months to prepare for this exhition, that's one thing. But it's next week! Plus, from a promotion standpoint, he can't fight Overeem or Barnett and definitely not Brock or Mir, in soon enough time for this exhibition to interfere.

4-24-2009 @ 10:34PM

No one has ever disputed that Fedor's last two fights were incredible. I've written, over and over, that Fedor is the best fighter in the world.

But the fact is, Fedor doesn't fight high-quality opposition often enough. He chooses to sign on for deals like this exhibition against Aoki and the fight with Hong Man Choi when he could be taking on guys like Overeem or Barnett, or he could be fighting in the UFC. That's a strike against him.

4-26-2009 @ 9:17AM

What makes Fedor's opponents low quality? There are seven HW in the world that have a chance against him, does that make every other opponent crappy? How is it a strike against him to make more money elsewhere, choose his own fights, and not be restricted by exclusivity of UFC contracts? Do tell.

4-25-2009 @ 7:37PM

Tyler said...

"or he could be fighting in the UFC. That's a strike against him."

We've all gone through why he and Dana aren't going to agree to terms with this.

Personally, I find this fight to be fascinating. I love both the fighters and ever expected to see any sort of match involving them - so I'm glad this is happening.

In terms of "Fedor fights no one"... Overeem is jumping to UFC, it seems, and Fedor... well, Fedor will probably face some 'good' competition at Affliction 3.

However, I would agree with this "NO WAY: AOKI vs. FEDOR = WTF LAME!" if it was going to be at Affliction 3, in place of a "good" Fedor fight.

4-25-2009 @ 9:41PM

What makes you think Fedor is going to fight a good opponent at Affliction 3?

4-26-2009 @ 9:33AM

It should be "good" competition whenever Fedor fights. Its kind of hard to be a bad professional fighter, everyone has the proverbial punchers chance. People who bang on his opponents have probably never been hit in the mouth.

4-25-2009 @ 9:53PM

mike said...

Even if Fedor is going to fight a good opponent at Affliction 3, why wait that long? Shouldn't a great fighter like Fedor want to challenge himself in big fights more frequently than once a year or so?

4-26-2009 @ 9:28AM

Affliction is not nearly as well run as the UFC is. I'm not sure if Fedor even cares about being ranked #1 or any of that media type stuff. From a fan perspective it would be great to watch him fight top ranked dudes all the time but fighting wears on you and sometimes top ranking doesn't equal interesting fight. Look at Silva vs Leites. Would you rather watch that fight or Fedor vs. Hong Man Choi or Mark Hunt. Put yourself in his position, would you want to fight badass dudes 3-4 times a year when you could chill with your friends and family?

4-26-2009 @ 9:42AM

I'm not sure what you're getting so upset about, Mitchell. I have said, over and over again, that I think Fedor is the best fighter in the world. I have also said, over and over again, that he has the right to do whatever he wants with his life.

But the fact remains, he doesn't challenge himself against elite competition as often as most elite fighters do. That's a strike against him.

4-26-2009 @ 10:12AM

I'm not upset. You write a lot of good articles usually but banging on Fedor's opponents is confusing to me. UFC and WEC have the best fighters in the world in basically all divisions except heavyweight. What other elite hw fighters are there, outside of UFC, besides Barnett and Overeem? He said Barnett was a friend so I'll buy that, and then if I were his management I wouldn't want him fighting Overeem who is a freak of 'science'. Fedor is the Silva of hw's, fellow fighters look awful in comparison. You are a good writer and everyone of his opponents have been good, just not on his level.

4-26-2009 @ 10:25AM

Thanks, Mitchell. I appreciate the kind words. I hope you'll keep coming back and commenting, whether we agree or disagree.

4-27-2009 @ 9:17PM

johnnyg said...

Fedor fights for God and Russia?, he fights for money period considering his bad relationship with Dana is about money and fights he can not pick. I would still like to see Carwin-Fedor, banger vs banger

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