Freddie Roach Predicts Andrei Arlovski Will KO Fedor Emelianenko

" If I saw him in the street I wouldn’t be scared of him" “But I’d be wrong.” lol So true.
 I didn’t think there was anything unusual about his comments. The whole “if he fights us like a man” bullshit is just the fact Arlovski’s camp wants to keep it on the feet. No secret.
I can’t wait for January 24th will be a great fight and event.
Upset pick Sokoudjou over Babalu.

Its official: Andrei’s getting submitted.

I’m not sure I agree with people treating Arlovski as if he’s helpless on the ground. Fans consider Arlovski a striker, and in recent fights, nearly a pure boxer, but he was a sambo fighter first. In addition to his sambo background, he has trained BJJ pretty thoroughly, although he’s obviously worked his stand-up much more in recent years.

Does Fedor have a better ground game? Yes. But Fedor is not a grappling wizard along the lines of say a Roger Gracie, and I’d even argue that Pe de Pano with all his grappling credentials has a better ground game than Fedor. I think we can all remember how Arlovski KO’d Pe de Pano mid-leglock.

Now obviously, Fedor’s submissions are much better suited for MMA than grappling phenoms like Gracie and Pe De Pano who make the transition to MMA later on. But if you look at the 15 fighters Fedor has submitted, none of them are competent grapplers except for Matt Lindland, Kevin Randleman, and Mark Coleman, and those three are are wrestlers, not BJJ artists.

Call me crazy, but I think Arlovski’s ground skills are sufficient enough to not get him submitted by Fedor. I do think Fedor can control Andrei on the ground if he can get him down,and he could definitely pound him out if he gets a dominant position, but I’m just not sure if I can see Fedor submitting Arlovski too easily.

AA better be on mat more than he’s hitting the pads. He nearly got subbed by Roy Nelson.

also have you guys seen the time early on arlovskis career he got KOd? it was some russian small organization and this crazy little dude was doing cartwheels and shit and i guess AA underestimated him. but he was out cold awhile. it’s on youtube. combine that with the sylvia ko and i’m pretty comfortable giving the edge to fedor in chin.
based on roy nelson aa fight, definitely fedor on the ground…and fedor canceled his press tour after the sambo loss to train more.

i know aa has looked good recently against the IFL all-stars but i think fedor would have too but finished them sooner.

i also agree the myth of the iron jaw has been exposed of late w/ nog and hunt crumpling…but really that’s all i can come up with in arlovski’s defense…he might land a big (i’m not calling it lucky) punch.

and aa has also lost his ‘crazy russian’ super powers living in chicago so long…

so trying to get a mental image of what fedor looks like knocked out….

does he still have that cute teddy bear smile when sleeping?

technically he cant be knocked out but he may need to reboot.

After reading his analysis I am giving Arlovski much more of a chance.

Fedor doesn’t shoot for his takedowns; he rushes in throwing punches, catches his opponent and then clinches when they are off guard.

If Arlovski is quick enough on his feet, a little lateral movement followed by a few hooks and crosses could disrupt Fedors swarm and clinch offensive. With training from Roach his movement should be good, its just a matter of how good. I wouldn’t have ever described Arlovski as sprightly, especially after his showing against Nelson and Rothwell. While he looked good they were two fighters with vastly inferior striking ability.

Still I do believe that Fedor is likely to eventually get him down, ground and pound, and then get the submission. But I have gone from giving Arlovski a 15% to a 25% chance of taking the fight.

to see AA throw a combo shift outta the way when Fedor goes for the clinch wait for Fedor to throw a combo as he comes in – Then try to catch him with a flying Knee as he trys to body clinch.

Seriously? Am I the only one who’s offended by this douchebag? I’ve always had respect for Freddie Roache, no questioning his boxing knowledge, but WTF? He’s sitting there implying that ground fighting is not “fighting like a man.”, and I for one just lost a lot of respect for Roachie.

I’m just offended that that is the way he REALLY feels! I really think Roachie feels that you’re not fighting like a man unless you’re standing up throwing punches. And it pisses me off because it’s one of the main reason’s it’s taking so long for MMA to become more mainstream. The taboo of groundfighting as being “dirty” has set us back so far, and Roachie’s over here perpetuating that school of thought, still!

But he’s only doing it because it’s A) more money in his own pocket B) another addition to his resume and C) he’s trying to get the MMA fighters to switch to boxing!

C’mon Weo. I know this, you know this, and of course Fedor knows this.
I’m only putting meaning into what Roachie himself said, and by his own statement, yes…he IS belittling the ground game. It is what it is.

But let’s just put this thing to bed, and let Fedor respond in his own words to Roachie’s statements.

Emelianenko On Freddie Roach’s Recent Comments:

“The beauty about MMA is that every fighter has his own unique style and preferences. But it’s not a beauty contest. We fight to see which fighter’s approach prevails. But again, we are not boxing and we are not fighting Sambo. We fight MMA. Sometimes it is a trainer’s job to point out weaknesses in his fighter’s opponents. And sometimes it is a trainer’s job to convince his fighter that his opponent has weaknesses. We will see.”

courtesy of fightline.com

Last thing on the subject, though, you’re right. I was a bit hard on Roachie, considering the situation and his motives. I’m just so sick of people saying groundfighting is not “fighting like a man.”

I used to hear that s**t when I was younger, and I never got to fight my fight, cause we would always get stood up right after I got the position I wanted. Sour grapes, I guess!

noone says ground fighting isnt fighting like a man after they roll with an experienced BJJ guy for the 1st time.

ask my drunk friends….

in all honesty ground fighting does look gay….i admit that, but like I tell everyone, that is the absolute last thing you will be thinking about when you are put to sleep