Fedor Emelianenko Gets 3 Month Medical Suspension, Could Decide Future in Next Month
Fedor Emelianenko has received a three-month medical suspension after a swollen eye earned him a second-straight loss at Saturday’s “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva” event, but has been cleared of serious injury and could decide his future in the next month, MMA Fighting reports.
After a second-round beating at the hands of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva closed Emelianenko’s eye and forced a doctor to stop the bout, the legendary heavyweight said he was considering retirement.
“Maybe it is time to leave,” Emelianenko said. “Maybe this is last time, maybe it’s high time (to retire).”
However, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker and manager Vadim Finkelstein said after the fight they don’t believe Emelianenko is done, with Coker adding that he could even return as an alternate in Strikeforce’s heavyweight grand prix, which continues on April 9 with Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers.
MORE: Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva Results Recap, Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva Videos
For the latest Strikeforce news and Strikeforce rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
Loading ...
Return as an alternate? What the Hell
Yea I think that Del Rosario has definitely earned his spot as the first alternate, but a lot of people wanted to see what would have happened if it went to a third round. I think Big Foot would have won the fight regardless. Hopefully no alternates will needed and the debate over who deserves to be in the tournament won’t have to happen.
A lot of people slow down and gawk at car wrecks. Doesn’t mean we should encourage them. In the third round, without binocular vision, and exhausted, Fedor could have been severely injured – I wonder still if his eye socket or cheek bone aren’t fractured. As I read it, after the three month suspension, he has to present clear CT scans to be re-instated. The swelling is not necessarily the only injury.
Yeah, what the hell is the point of a tournament if you can lose and still participaet in said tournament???
Ya of course Coker and Finkle dude are optimistic about his return. Fedor is their cash cow!
I don’t know exactly what they meant here by saying alternate but what it looks like they will put Fedor vs someone as an extra fight so that the tourney get’s some more life. This fight will have nothing to do with the tourney. If werdum gets KTFO in his next fight then surely why not fedor vs Werdum…! There will be some other potential loser who will come out of this tourney. They can even match up with some of them.
Also M1 is part of the whole tourney. If Fedor is not there for rest of the 80% of the tourney then what’s the point of keeping “Strikeforce M1-Global” presents…….HW tourney.
@TC – They probably wouldn’t. M-1 is never a “sponsor” of anything when their fighters aren’t involved. I suspect Strikeforce could and would shut them out in the cold with Fedor done.
That said, they could prove themselves worthy of the name Strikefarce if they keep doing business with M-1 even a single minute longer than necessary.
Unless M-1 can consistently provide some quality Russian fighters that consistently compete at upper levels in Strikeforce, you are probably right.
Maybe its just me, but have any of the bloodsuckers over at M-1 Global taken the time to actually get to KNOW the sport they are doing business in?
Haven’t they seen the way the sport’s evolutionary learning curve has left their meal ticket behind?
Bloodied by Brett Rogers, subbed by Fabricio Werdum in about the time it takes to pour out dark roast from a French press, and now bludgeoned by Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva to the point where the SAC guys had to wave off the fight.
THIS is the man that M-1 Global was willing to send into the Octagon against Shane Carwin and Brock Lesnar?
Sweet Jesus…the Fedor we saw Saturday night would have had to be carried out of the Octagon if he were facing Shane Carwin.
Forget the “third round noise” that some Fedorians are sadly still making, Fedor wouldn’t have made it out of the first round against Carwin and/or Lesnar Saturday night.
We are WAY passed the MMA Hw GOAT debate.
Fine Fedorians, your guy was the best of the PRIDE era and probably would have even beaten Randy Couture in a PRIDE ring [but not the Octagon].
That being said, and with all due respect dropped on him, let the guy enjoy the retirement he’s earned.
No sense in seeing him march down to the cage to catch beatings so Scott Coker and Fedor’s vampire posse can get rich off his sweat, and now his blood.
I’m no Fedor supporter. Quite the contrary, as a lot of you know. But I see no point in a beloved MMA icon being thrown into the figurative wood chipper for a payout and a promotional pop.
Hopefully the man retires gracefully and returns home to enjoy his life with his loved ones.
And if he does feel the need to hit the gym, let it be as the head of a new, non M-1 Global organaization dedicated to promoting MMA in Russia.
Or better yet, I’d like to see Fedor emigrate stateside and start teaching a new generation of fighters exactly how valuable SAMBO could be in the future of MMA…
Best post of yours i’ve read
FEDOR THE GREATEST EVER!!! NUMBER ONE FOREVER!!!
while me and you have very different opinions of fedor, i agree. i love the man, and he WILL go down as one of the greatest heavyweights ever. however, i would rather see him retire. i think he has lost his fire and passion, maybe to the M-1 bloodsucking machine. its hard to go from fighting at least 3 times a year to fighting 3 times in 2 years. i wish the man the best regardless of his decision
I say retire from SF..do a one fight UFC contract..Fedor vs Couture to determine the GOAT
Won’t happen, wouldn’t determine that anyway at this point.
Jcohl, that was one of the most well spoken posts i have seen in a long time. Everything you said hit the nail right on the head, and i couldnt agree with you more.
I don’t think it’s very fair to the guys who win their fights for fedor to come back as an alternate
Hey, Fedor, go to the UFC – if they’ll hire you. Fight like Couture and, um, Cro Cop or something… Might be fun, right?
I think it’s fair for him to come back if there is injury to someone. And if that is the case, and Fedor is willing to fight, it will be Fedor as the alternate, right or wrong. Who will make more money for SF? Fedor, or someone else?
Good Point FS.
And also, putting everything aside..If SF has Fedor Emelianenko sitting there waiting to fight then who better to be an alternate?..I have no problem with that at all
How about Del Rosario who, as far as I can tell, isn’t actually in the grand prix? If they want to make fedor a second alternate, I have less problem but Del Rosario should be first.
Yo, me thinks dat Fedor can really hurt all that hard work done to his buffed record if he loses a third time in a row. Especially if its another beatdown like Silva put on him.
Fedor these following carrers are what could happen to you…
Jens Pulver
Chuck Liddell
Ken Shamrock
Tim Sylvia
Andre Arlovsky
At least Royce Gracie said one and done.
lol’d fo-real at yo me thinks dat.
i think fedor’s speed has diminshed.
It’s hard to say by how much, because on top of that it was Antonio’s night, and also Bigfoot fought smarter than Tim Silvia in terms of dealing with the smaller faster guy. (Naturally as Bigfoot wanted the mat whereas Silvia didn’t).
Further the sport has evolved a lot since Pride. i don’t see Fedor as dinosaur skill-set wise,
but without a 240 lb division (which will happen as the sport grows)
and without his lightning speed he can’t be elite HW anymore.
Hall of Famer and/or Masters Division.
fedor needs to drop to 205 and test him self there
I agree with most, that Fedor will not be dropping to 205. And I know he kinda looked like sh!t on Saturday, but, this is his first time losing two in a row. Hell it’s the first time he has lost in ten years! (with the Werdum loss)
I’m not sure we should be saying he should retire just yet. And I would like to point out, just so it’s clear, I’m NOT a Fedor fan. I admire what he has done for the best sport in the world. The guy was so dominate for so long that, now that people see that he is human, and can be beaten, he should retire?
IMO he should fight again, and if the result is the same as the previous two…then maybe he should.
But he could bounce back from this and have a great fight, and then people would be back on his junk again.
But IMO one thing is clear…he will never compete at the highest levels (the UFC) and be that successful.
If he would have came into the UFC straight from PRIDE, then things would have been different I’m sure.
But all that being said…I would’nt lose any sleep if he did indeed retire and never fight again.
Like I said in a previous post, I hope he will continue to do great things for the sport I love, and do great at anything else he does in his life. There is NO denying he had one of the best carrers in the history of MMA. Wish him all the best in the future!!
The tournament is irrelevant, Alistair has it locked!
Seems to me if they already had an alternate in place, then that fighter should continue to be first alternate, not bumped for fedor just because hes thier money maker. And if they didnt have any alternates lined up, but simply decided to make one once fedor lost, in an effort to get him another fight, well thats bull too. I wouldnt put it past coker and m1 (in my opinion) to see to it that one of the other fighters had an “unfortunate accident” and couldnt fight, ensuring fedor a spot. But all this is sort of moot since the medical suspension seems to preclude him anyway, doesnt it?
It’s not so bad for the alternate guys as they are on the rise and would get crushed by the guys who make it to the semis.
also it’d be good to rule out: Overeem(a) vs Overeem (b) i as it’d either be gruesome or more likely half hearted.