By Kevin Nelson

With his second consecutive defeat last Saturday, we look at what Fedor Emelianenko should do now in his career? We offer some suggestions and determine what if any changes need to be made or if he is simply past his prime.

We also examine how this affects his legacy.

We also explore the question: Was Fedor overrated?

What should Fedor do now?

The first answer is obvious: he can retire and know that he is one of the most celebrated fighters of his time. His victories and his impressive MMA showings were always must see.

What fascinated people was his stoic enigmatic, emotionless expression that captivated us because he was such a mystery. He can ultimately return but some definite changes need to be made in his game.

The first is his training. He no longer trains with the best and a change in venue could help bolster his career. With his knowledge of submissions and great power, he can even improve more so by training with a top notch training camp such as the ones in the US.

Places such as American Top Team, American Kickboxing Academy, Extreme Couture, where he will have top training partners and coaches pushing him and making him an even better fighter. He also needs to fight a little more often and against harder competition.

I must admit to having a man crush on Fedor due to his accomplishments, but even I will agree his competition leading up to this tournament within the last five years have not been fighters in their prime that he has faced until now.

Has Fedor passed his prime and if so is he overrated?

In some ways, I think it is not so much that he is passed his prime so much as he has not improved. Within the last five years, the heavyweight division has fighters that are good at more than one thing in the cage. Whereas, in the past, heavyweights were not as evolved as they are now.

Many heavyweights are good strikers and have good ground game, which is something Fedor always had the distinct advantage before of being that multi talented. Now I think its rediscovering the hunger of what drove him to be the best.

The second part of the question is he overrated? I would say “no,” amassing the record he has is not easy and, yes, I do believe he has quite a few tomato cans on his record but you cannot discount the quality opponents that he has defeated. His past accomplishments notwithstanding if Fedor Emelianenko can’t find the burning desire to be the best than my suggestion is to call it a career because watching a once great fighter get beat up is an old cliché that many fight fans are tired of seeing.

Is Fedor legacy hurt by the 2 losses?

If a fighter can go ten years without losing and then, at the age of 35, lose two straight, I would hope that when people look at these two losses that he is not discredited in any way his accomplishments.

But, on the other hand, if Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva have great careers then in some way, his losses would be that much more impressive. All in all, he is a Hall of Famer but my only wish is he compete for the UFC.

With M1 Global and their ridiculous demands of co-promoting an event that features only one fighter and sharing revenue but not putting up expenses, you can understand why the UFC balked at such an agreement.

I would like to see him rededicate himself and more questions can be answered instead of asked?

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