OUR FANHOUSE TOOLBAR INTEGRATES THE LATEST SPORTS NEWS INTO YOUR WEB BROWSER AND INSTALLS IN SECONDS.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE TOOLBAR HERE.

MMA

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Shinya Aoki Video: So, That Happened

Posted May 04, 2009 6:52AM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Affliction, DREAM, MMA Videos

Text SizeAAA

The video of the Shinya Aoki vs. Fedor Emelianenko special sparring exhibition is now available after M-1 Global posted it on the web, and I guess my feeling after watching it is the same as my feeling before: It's basically just a silly waste of time.

Yes, it's kind of cool to see the best MMA fighter in the world doing some grappling with one of the best jiu jitsu practitioners in the world, but it's not like either one of them took this seriously. And it frustrates me that Fedor, for all his greatness in MMA, doesn't put that greatness on display more often. Fedor fought a couple of overmatched opponents in 2007, only fought once in 2008 and has only fought once in 2009. The best in the world needs to push himself more than that.

So, yes, that Aoki vs. Emelianenko sparring exhibition happened, and the video is kinda interesting. But I hope we get to see Fedor in a real MMA fight soon.

Tags: Fedor+Emelianenko, FedorEmelianenko, Shinya+Aoki, ShinyaAoki

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-04-2009 @ 8:14AM

mike said...

Fedor plays right into Dana White's hands with stuff like this. Fedor is better than any fighter in the UFC, but he wastes his time with this stuff instead of fighting regularly. He has two MMA fights in the last 16 months, and he doesn't even have another one scheduled yet.

5-04-2009 @ 8:23AM

sprewell said...

The fact that bloggers still think MMA is about "proving yourself" and not money is absurd. Fedor will fight whoever, whenever as long as they can pay him. He doesn't care- he just wants his money.

5-04-2009 @ 8:28AM

Michael David Smith said...

You need to work on your reading comprehension. Nowhere in this post did I say, "MMA is about proving yourself." What I said is that I'd like to see Fedor push himself against elite competition more often than he does.

5-04-2009 @ 9:20AM

Eric said...

Fedor would have signed with the ufc when Pride was bought out if he only cared about the money. How much do you think he gets paid to represent Russia in Sambo?

That being said, Fedor is the best in the world and he deserves to be paid accordingly.

5-04-2009 @ 9:38AM

Michael David Smith said...

I agree with you, Eric. Fedor doesn't seem particularly motivated by money, but if any fighter has ever done enough in the sport to deserve to be well paid, it's him.

5-04-2009 @ 9:52AM

sprewell said...

"The best in the world needs to push himself more than that."

Yeah, you said that. Why does he "need" to push himself more? For your amusement? To "prove" something to fans?

He's fighting on July 20th in Japan anyways.

5-04-2009 @ 10:02AM

Michael David Smith said...

He has not yet agreed to fight on July 20 in Japan, and even if that fight goes down, we don't know if it will be against a high-quality opponent.

He needs to push himself because that's what sports are all about. If you like sports, you like seeing elite athletes push themselves.

5-04-2009 @ 9:56AM

Doug said...

I liked it, I smiled through the whole match

5-05-2009 @ 7:02AM

Climber said...

Me too. It was fun to watch.

5-04-2009 @ 10:07AM

Frederick said...

That looked like a fight scripted by vince Mcmahon

5-04-2009 @ 10:28AM

retrojoke said...

Uh...wtf over? Fedor push himself? He has beaten everyone already. His last fights were complete destruction of 2 ufc Heavyweight champions.

He doesnt have to do anything now. Yeah youd like to see him fight in the UFC but anyone he fights in their is hardly worth his time. Brock Lesnar barely has mma experience would get killed, and the runnerups are weak- Mir has no chance. Gonzaga is the best favorable fight for UFC to handle and even then he is low caliber.

Who exactly does the UFC have that can push Fedor to new limits?

5-05-2009 @ 7:50AM

Eric said...

Gonzaga? Forget Gonzaga ... What about Carwin, Kongo, and Overeem?

5-04-2009 @ 11:59AM

mrblazer50 said...

I agree with retrojoke, why does he need to push himself. Nobody in the UFC would stand a chance. If Arlovski went back to the UFC he would quickly become the champ. All there's left is Josh Barnett and I don't know why this fight didn't happen years ago. Barnett is definitely the second best heavyweight and he has been in Fedor's shadow for years. After he fights Barnett, Fedor's beaten everyone. He has no need tochallenge himself, it's the other heavyweights that need to challenge themselves to get to Fedor's level. And Fedor would be a fool to ever sign with the criminals and thieves that run UFC, he's making all the right decisions, and although he's only fought twice in the past year, they both were elite opponents. Suure I would love to see him fight more, but other than Barnett, who is out there worthy enough to fight him.

5-04-2009 @ 12:19PM

M13 said...

Damn Skippy to the previous two comments! Only other fighter I could think about that may prove to be an interesting challenge to Fedor is Alistair Overeem. Otherwise I can't think of anyone else in the UFC or elsewhere.

5-05-2009 @ 8:20AM

skeen267 said...

mrblazer50 -

"If Arlovski went back to the UFC he would quickly become the champ."

Doubtful. Sylvia beat Arlovski twice, and Mir beat Sylvia so bad it almost ended Sylvia's career.

Carwin is no joke, either.