Who is Fedor's next opponent?

by mattman73 on Jul 23, 2008 2:14 PM EDT

Is this really a discussion?

Not anymore. Fedor Emelianenko is the Undisputed WAMMA World Heavyweight Champion.

That means his next opponent according to the official WAMMA rankings will be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Oh wait... The UFC won't let "Big Nog" fight outside the UFC.

O.k. That means his next opponent according to the official WAMMA rankings will be Randy Couture.

Oh wait... He is tied up in a messy lawsuit and he can't fight anywhere right now.

Well next on the official WAMMA rankings is Josh Barnett. No problems with Josh Barnett fighting Fedor is there? Nope no apparent problems.

But rumor has it his next opponent could be Andrei Arlovski. While he did move up to the #4 spot in the official WAMMA rankings he is still behind Josh Barnett. How could there be a rumor Fedor is fighting Arlovski next? That just doesn't make sense does it?

If Fedor's next fight is going to be for the WAMMA title (which I'm assuming it has to be) then it would have to be against Barnett because he is ranked higher in the WAMMA rankings. I mean if they are wanting it to mean what they are claiming it means then they can't be letting him fight the lower ranked guy can they?

Unless somehow Arlovski passes Barnett in the rankings between then and now. With neither of them fighting between then and now I don't see how that would happen legitimately. But I suppose the voters could see that as the next best fight and somehow decide to change their votes to move Arlovski ahead of Barnett. That would of course be the beginning of the end of the credibility in the WAMMA rankings in my opinion though.

So it had better be Barnett if it's for the WAMMA title.

Or they can realize that involving WAMMA causes this problem of not letting them make the matches they want to make and they can throw WAMMA out on their ass and make their own belt.

Then they can make the fight that makes the most sense for Affliction and not for WAMMA.

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This is the mess that WAMMA will have to contend with.

His next fight doesn’t necessarily have to be against the number one contender (or whomever is highest ranked and available).

Boxing is the closest thing to WAMMA, and they don’t require every fight to be against the next in line. WAMMA should require a number one contender to be given a shot within a year, even going so far as to offer it to Big Nog if they have him #1.

As badly as I want to see Barnett/Fedor (the biggest fight out there, imo), it would make sense for Affliction to put AA as his next fight, then Barnett after that. In other words build to the top, not start at the top and work down.

The other question, is Fedor’s intent to fight NYE in Japan. Do they have him fight at WVR against Barnett?? Do they have him fight a less dangerous opponent like Overeem??

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Jul 23, 2008 2:34 PM EDT 0 recs

I agree with some of that.

My post is meant to be taken as half sarcastic and half truth.

I really think the next most logical match-up is Arlovski but Barnett is supposed to be fighting on the next Affliction card also. Can you really have the Undisputed Champion fighting a lower ranked guy when the guy he should be fighting according to their rules and regulations is fighting on the same card? I don’t see how that can happen with out losing the credibility they are so desperately wanting for that Undisputed WAMMA belt.

Can you really compare the WAMMA sanctioning powers to that of a boxing sanctioning body? I thought there was actually some legal provisions that give boxing sanctioning bodies power. WAMMA has no legal provisions giving them any power what so ever right?

On the prospect of him fighting in Japan on New Year’s Eve is another issue I have. What if he fights some guy that could barely make any top 25 heavyweight list and loses. Granted it wouldn’t be for the Undisputed WAMMA Heavyweight Championship but wouldn’t that kill the credibility of the belt if he by chance lost to that guy though. I know that probably won’t happen this time but at some point in the future it will if they allow that to be the normal operating procedure.

My take is if they want the Undisputed WAMMA titles to be the recognized best then the holder of that belt has to fight the top ranked contender every time out. I realize that match-up isn’t always possible but if it is possible and it isn’t made for whatever reason then it really isn’t the Undisputed title it is claiming to be.

by mattman73 on Jul 23, 2008 3:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’m with you, I caught some of the sarcasm and I think they are in over their heads with this stuff.

Could you imagine if the champ fought the #1 contender every time out? Their careers would end much quicker than they do now.

As for my unfortunate comparison to boxing, lol, I simply was using it as a reference point that the champ doesn’t always fight the #1 contender. Hell, even when they do, the guy is rarely deserving of the #1 contender spot.

As a concept, WAMMA isn’t all bad, but when you put it into effect, it seems to be a mess.

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Jul 23, 2008 5:30 PM EDT up 0 recs

I agree.

The concept does sound wonderful.

But just like you said when trying to put it into effect it doesn’t quite work like it should.

Especially when not everybody wants to play along.

by mattman73 on Jul 23, 2008 5:34 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah, no UFC=No dice.

I say WAMMA ignores UFC in their rankings, then every NYE, we see the UFC/WEC champs fight the WAMMA champs. Get Dana on the phone!

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Jul 23, 2008 5:37 PM EDT up 0 recs

I really think they’d be better off only ranking fighters outside of the UFC and I don’t know what they hope to gain by cluttering their rankings with fighters unavailable to fight for their belt.

Intentional Blog on Balls

by Richard on Jul 23, 2008 8:21 PM EDT up 0 recs

Because if they don’t include UFC fighters in their rankings then they are bogus rankings.

Without a true ranking system their plans of having Undisputed WAMMA Champions in every weight class won’t mean anything.

by mattman73 on Jul 23, 2008 8:45 PM EDT up 0 recs

WAMMA...

has always stated that they want their champions to defend against “WAMMA Top 10 Ranked Fighters” and I think that is fair enough as they have to keep in mind that promotions have to put on fights that make sense for them and if that means allowing fights to build and not immediately throwing their top dogs in every time out…that seems fine to me.

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by brentbrookhouse on Jul 23, 2008 3:56 PM EDT 0 recs

What about the Undisputed part of it?

If you got the Undisputed Champion fighting some 8th ranked guy and he loses then every guy ranked higher than that has a legitimate beef about it being Undisputed then don’t they?

Then to me it’s just another belt. So then if it is Affliction they might as well do away with WAMMA and create their own belt and find a way to keep the revenue WAMMA would have gotten for themselves.

By allowing Fedor to fight whoever is available makes it no better of a belt than the UFC’s belt.

To have the credibility they want to be called the Undisputed belt don’t they have to demand him fight the highest ranked opponent possible?

by mattman73 on Jul 23, 2008 4:05 PM EDT up 0 recs

No, because that lower ranked fighter will then have to defend the belt within however long the WAMMA period is against a ranked WAMMA opponent or be stripped for the title.

It is in fact, just another belt, except it can be defended, and lost, in fights amongst different promotion’s fighters. So theoretically if say Kimbo beat Fedor (and my money is on Kimbo) then the WAMMA belt (and whatever prestige that comes with it) would go to Elite XC, but Kimbo would then have to defend the belt against a WAMMA ranked opponent in the given time frame or be stripped of the belt.

The problem I see is why would an organization with a WAMMA champion ever let him defend against a fighter from a different organization. As long as they have anyone else ranked as a WAMMA contender then they could just schedule that fight every year and keep the belt inside their own organization.

by Day Man on Jul 23, 2008 4:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

What about the Undisputed part of it?

I still don’t get how it could be called the Undisputed title then?

If I’m ranked #2 and the guy that wins the title is ranked #8 I’m going to dispute that he deserved that title shot and that he deserves it.

To me Undisputed means no one else could claim to be better than the person with the belt.

That isn’t the case if the champion isn’t fighting the best and highest ranked opponent every fight.

And if WAMMA’s belt can’t hold up under the scrutiny of being Undisputed then what good is it?

by mattman73 on Jul 23, 2008 4:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

The Undisputed nature comes from the theoretical idea that the best fighters in the world, regardless of promotion will be able to fight each other for it.

by Day Man on Jul 23, 2008 5:19 PM EDT up 0 recs

In a perfect world.

I know I’m hoping for perfect circumstances and probably a perfect world in which that is how it should work.

But isn’t that what WAMMA was supposed to be getting us close to?

I’m really just hating on WAMMA and pointing out what makes them useless to me.

by mattman73 on Jul 23, 2008 5:20 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yea, WAMMA was pretty much done in by the UFC’s decision (and a smart decision) to not let its fighters fight outside of their promotion. WAMMA is just doing the best it can right now given the circumstances.

by Day Man on Jul 23, 2008 5:25 PM EDT up 0 recs

I gotta give them credit for even attempting this.

Just like you said they are doing it the best they can and I realize that but if it’s still not being done right then is it really doing any good?

by mattman73 on Jul 23, 2008 5:32 PM EDT up 0 recs

Sounds like it might be Andrei Arlovski in October.

by Nick Thomas on Jul 23, 2008 4:17 PM EDT 0 recs

by Nick Thomas on Jul 23, 2008 4:20 PM EDT 0 recs

What happens when the UFC gets involved?

Not by participating with WAMMA but when the UFC decides to out bid everyone for the services of the fighter holding a WAMMA title.

I’m guessing Dana White will try to sign every WAMMA title holder just to make them vacate it.

What happens when Dana White signs a WAMMA title holder to an exclusive UFC contract?

by mattman73 on Jul 23, 2008 5:05 PM EDT 0 recs

The title doesn’t get defended and is vacated.

by Day Man on Jul 23, 2008 5:17 PM EDT up 0 recs

Arlovski will fight Fedor next

And after Fedor wins, he’ll likely fight Overeem or Cro Cop in Japan on NYE. He then wants to fight Barnett in March.

Should Fedor win those four matches in a row –Sylvia, Arlovski, Overeem/Cro Cop, Barnett– he’ll go down as the greatest FIGHTER of all-time.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on Jul 23, 2008 5:06 PM EDT 0 recs

You don’t see Randy Couture in Fedor’s future?

by lovingmma25 on Jul 23, 2008 5:09 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yep.

I do see Randy in Fedor’s future.

But I like FlyByKnight’s order of events. I think it is a good prediction on how things might shake out.

Of course depending on when or if Randy becomes free and clear to fight.

by mattman73 on Jul 23, 2008 5:16 PM EDT up 0 recs

I would prefer Barnett next….however, I’d settle for AA…hell anybody besides the cans he was facing prior to Sylvia

http://tharealness.wordpress.com/

by Tha Realness on Jul 23, 2008 5:30 PM EDT 0 recs

I would rather see AA or Barnett before Randy, any day of the week.

BUT, they need to get it done asap, due to his advancing age.

Another question is, who do we see after AA, Barnett and Randy (not counting rematches)?? There certainly isn’t a wealth of established heavyweights out there.

Bigfoot
Roy Nelson
Overeem (he’s looked pretty good at HW)
maybe CroCop rematch (though I think Dana may have something to say about that)

Not exactly marketers dreams, except maybe a CC rematch. OK, bring on Kimbo!

"The bigger the cushion, the sweeter the pushin'"

by BJJDenver on Jul 23, 2008 5:35 PM EDT 0 recs

I’d like to see him step in their with Faber and Pulver…at the same time. I think he needs to start exploring the handicap realm if he beats AA, Barnet, and Randy.

by Day Man on Jul 23, 2008 5:40 PM EDT up 0 recs