Strikeforce: Werdum Submits Fedor

As posted on LayAndPray:

"The Last Emperor" has fallen

You are probably in awe at this moment, just an hour or so after Fedor Emelianenko was submitted by Fabricio Werdum. The immediate questions that come to mind are what this means for Fedor’s future, and what it means for his legacy. One thing you will come to know about LayAndPray is that we do not deal in hyperbole or sensationalism. I am not going to run through the streets and cry about Fedor’s legacy crumbling the moment he tapped to escape Fabricio Werdum’s armbar/triangle combination. You will also not read any articles condemning Fedor’s future and pushing for "The Last Emperor" to throw in the towel on his legendary career. What we witnessed tonight was inevitable, and it would be doing a disservice to Fabricio Werdum to devalue the performance he put on tonight.

MMA fans have seen Fedor as the dominant heavyweight in the sport for the better part of the last decade. The man has won fights in every way imaginable. Although he has been undefeated* we have seen him hurt before. Fedor has fought several "game" opponents that have had him in dangerous positions but the thing that made the world embrace him is that his heart is unmatched and he has always found a way to win. Yet somehow, many people speak of him as if he is a Greek god, despite the fact that we have seen the man sweat, bleed, and grimace. I will admit, when I saw him fall into Werdum’s guard and get caught with the initial triangle attempt, I turned to my wife and said, "He will get out of this, it is Fedor."  Then I turned to my friend and exalted, "Fedor will never tap, Werdum will have to break his arm or put him to sleep!"

Then, right on cue, a single tap of Fedor’s right hand brought his legendary unbeaten steak to a screeching halt.  Fedor made the mistake of falling into the guard of one of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in the weight class and he paid for it (if you disagree, I urge you to consult the results of the past four ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships in the 99+ kg division). Werdum will go on to face Allistair Overeem for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Championship. As for those questions about Fedor, only time can answer them fully, but Fedor’s own words shed light on his future. A sullen Emelianenko said that he would go back to the video of the fight to see what happened, and how to prevent it in the future. If he has not thrown in the towel, we should not try to do it for him. Nor should we fall into the trap of diminishing his legacy due to a single loss to one of the best competitors in the world. Nothing will take away Fedor’s past accomplishments. I will leave you tonight with a poignant quote from Fedor:

"A man that has not fallen cannot stand up"

* Fedor’s lone loss came in a tournament in Japan against Tsuyoshi Kosaka in 2000 when Fedor was cut over the right eye by an illegal elbow. Due to the fact that it was a tournament, a winner had to be chosen. Since the cut was severe enough to stop the fight and prevent him from competing in the next round of the tournament, Fedor was given a loss. We do not see this as a legitimate loss, and therefore we use the asterisk.