I Don't Think Fedor Lost 1st Round

by JoelMan on Nov 17, 2009 6:30 AM EST

Brett Roger's coach said post fight that Fedor was in danger and had lost the first round . He said Fedor was lying for saying he was never in any danger. Some fans , backed by Joe Rogan's "Fedor was exposed" seem to think about the same.

Here is my humble opinion : while definitely a close round , and honest to god my Fedor-nuthuggery aside , I think Fedor won that round. Watching that fight again and again (I really like that fight) , when you know that Fedor's nose isn't in fact broken , you can see that the whole round was Fedor deciding what happens and dictating the pace. Fedor completely implemented his game plan of constantly moving forward and made Rogers backpedal for most of the fight(I think Fedor's coaches hinted at this strategy in the fight camp video) bar a few dead clinch moments. Did Rogers land some good punches ? He surely did . But the amount of blood shouldn't be the sole criteria for damage or danger (if it was then Fedor was in MAD trouble against Matt Lindland , only that he wasn't). Fedor cuts really easily , that's just a fact . He came to that fight with wounds that didn't heal , and he bled. That jab by Rogers was solid and accurate but that's what it was - a jab. Fedor's big left hand after the clinch followed by rag-dolling Rogers and taking him down was much more impressive.

Then came the kimura attempt and subsequent armbar attempt that led Rogers to being on top of Fedor throwing some good shots (about 3 or 4 landed I think) and further bloodying Fedor. Only that Fedor succeeded to throw Rogers with the armbar attempt , and Rogers seemed fatigued or disoriented and Fedor pounced on him again with Rogers being on his back again and Fedor this time going for an arm triangle choke. To the end of the round from that point Rogers kept being on his back with Fedor still the aggressor.

I think Fedor was always in control in the first round or the fight in general. If anyone got close to finishing that fight in the first round it was Fedor with that huge left hand and sub attempts. Kudos to Rogers for being tough and messing Fedor up , but in my opinion it was Fedor all along . Blood can be deceiving sometimes. If there was someone who threw Fedor from his usual gameplan it was Arlovski (who for once made Fedor hesitate about pushing forward) not Rogers. I don't think it matters all that much who won what round when the fight had such a decisive ending(the Arlovski dominated Fedor threads made me perplexed too) , but it's just my take and my opinion that Fedor is still in the same fighting shape he has always been in. If it seemed tougher it's because Rogers is tougher , that's all. I don't really understand Rogan's comments about Fedor being exposed in the 265 division . For every win Fedor gets lately he's either fighting bums or being exposed , that's just ridiculous.

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There were impressive things about Fedor in the first round. Its like the Arlovski fight, you can see how at times Fedor is creating the opportunities to finish the fight.. Maybe he won cage control/ring generalmenship (not even sure about this), but no self respecting judge could ignore the type of damage rogers was delivering.

Cage control is important, but its far less important than damage. Cage control is most useful in rounds with little to no significant damage which was not the first round of rogers-fedor.

Sure Fedor cuts easily, but that Jab was head snapping and nose breaking, and the 4 punches that Rogers landed in GNP were just devastating.

I give Fedor credit for his sub attempts but they were positional sub attempts not near finishes which diminishes them in my book. Also while Fedor got the takedown Rogers was able to reverse himself at one point and inflict GnP.

Also even on the Cage Control front Rogers had some time in the clinch where he was pushing a slightly confused Fedor around.

by SES 84 on Nov 17, 2009 7:34 AM EST reply actions

But that’s exactly what I’m trying to say here – Fedor’s skin breaks very easily . Even Hong Man Choi succeeded to somewhat bust up his face . Blood alone can’t count for damage , for example Fedor’s big shot in the first(that rocked Rogers), and his huge shot in the second that ended the fight – both didn’t leave a mark. Rogers had the jab and the extremely short GNP . He succeeded to reverse Fedor because Fedor went for a kimura . His GNP was very good though I agree.
But bottom line Rogers had the jab and 3-4 punches in the GNP , Fedor had Rogers backpedaling and on his back most of the fight and was going for submissions , and landed a very big left.
I don’t think the short (yet effective , I agree) GNP counts more than what Fedor did . I don’t think Fedor was confused at any point , if someone looked lost or fatigued it was Rogers (at least in my eyes). But these are all subjective impressions .
I think we can agree it was a good round for both fighters tho :-)
I hope to see Rogers get another elite fighter and lets see how he handles himself from now on , I do see a lot of potential. He’s like a heavyweight version of Chuck Liddell imo , very good at striking and getting up from take downs.

by JoelMan on Nov 17, 2009 7:50 AM EST up reply actions

It’s not just cutting its a broken nose and crushing GNP. Fedor’s submission were more positional than finishing.

I hear you on all the things Fedor did well in that round. Its probably right to point out that Fedor showed a lot in that round. He showed why he was such a threat to finish that fight at any moment (stalking, sub attempts). Maybe this is a response to the thought that Fedor was exposed or dominated in that round. That said, I think that round is a clear 10-9 Rogers.

by SES 84 on Nov 17, 2009 8:08 AM EST up reply actions

His nose wasn’t broken (according to Fedor …and he was in the states a few days after the fight so I doubt he lied about it)

by JoelMan on Nov 17, 2009 1:13 PM EST up reply actions

Brett had the opening jab, held Fedor against the cage(out-weighing him by at least 40lbs) delivered very minimal damage and a 6 sec flurry with the GnP. Fedor escaped, either via sub attempts(yes they weren’t fight finishing but reversing dominant position) or creating space to use his Sambo and break away from the cage. He also rocked Rogers a couple times to the point where Brett was back pedaling and stumbling.

by fedorade on Nov 17, 2009 5:19 PM EST up reply actions

Cage control is important, but its far less important than damage.

Randy Couture disagrees.

Also, Fedor rocked Rogers in the first round, and while cut, was never himself rocked. So even damage-wise, Fedor would have won.

Unless you mean that the person that looks worse should lose the round? In that case, Matt Lindland might as well give up fighting now.

"Why am I here? Why does my mind have wings? Why do blue midgets hit me with fish?!" - The Tick

by mythbuster on Nov 17, 2009 12:31 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Not to mention we can't think like this

It doesn’t matter much because Fedor is on an absurd finishing streak, but I feel like sometimes even the judges are amazed at what elite fighters do. I think Randy Couture might get too much credit for what he does in the clinch because he is such a fan of it and Machida got credit for straight jabs to the head despite the fact Shogun was nailing him.

by SES 84 on Nov 17, 2009 7:36 AM EST reply actions

This was a debate?

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by Leland Roling on Nov 17, 2009 8:14 AM EST reply actions

No, not really.

"Why am I here? Why does my mind have wings? Why do blue midgets hit me with fish?!" - The Tick

by mythbuster on Nov 17, 2009 12:32 PM EST up reply actions

I think people forget

that Fedor rocked rogers with a power hook in the first.

by IpullguardIRL on Nov 17, 2009 9:13 AM EST reply actions

This^^

by fedorade on Nov 17, 2009 5:11 PM EST up reply actions

I don’t think there was really ever a debate.

Fedor WAS in trouble for about 10 seconds when Rogers was dropping bombs on him. And I guess he was in trouble with the cut. But other than that it was still a pretty clear Fedor round. Honestly I’ve never heard anyone say otherwise.

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by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 17, 2009 9:28 AM EST reply actions