Yea, I said it. Most of you guys know me. I am not this sites most avid Fedor fan. Hell, most Fedor fans think I can't stand the guy. But here I am. Fedor isn't done unless he wants to be done. And when I say this I'm not talking about some silly move to 205, either.

Saturday night. Twelfth Night (kinda). We saw Fedor fight a fiercely competitive round with a very underrated fighter. I said from the start, Fedor is good against big men but none of those previous big men were very athletic or very well rounded. Silva has all of that. He's the breed of Heavyweight we'd been curious if Fedor could handle since these big and talented men started showing up. Usually Fedor had a clear path to victory. It wasn't so clear this night. And Fedor took everything he had and gave a ton of heart and power in return. In short, it was a beautiful round of fighting. The kind of thing we watch Mixed Martial Arts for.

The second round Fedor came out with, what looked to me, the exact same punch he used to decapitate Brett Rogers. Effectively saying, "That was fun young man, but enough of this shit". To his surprise and mine, frankly, Silva quickly shot in. I followed with "Fedor's hips are to good. I don't think anyone can mount him". Wrong again. Anyway... we don't need a full play by play of the beating he took.

Now ask yourself, was Fedor done? Clearly not. He wanted to fight and if anyone could have still won that fight, it was Fedor. He wasn't insurmountably down on the score cards and the man knows how to finish a fight. That said, it was the right call to stop it. The man needed to be protected from his own desire, as often happens.

So, we saw a man unbroken. Defeated but not beaten. Why are we asking and in some cases pleading for him to retire? What skill did we see diminish? I see no lack of ability. He hasn't slowed down. I see a rock solid chin still. It's not like when we watched Chuck or AA have the ability to fight but no ability to take damage. He hasn't had a career full of brutal beatings like we saw Nog go through (which was mostly Fedor's fault). He is still the same man and fighter who ruled the division a few years back.

People are saying "the new breed of Heavyweight is too good. Too fast. It's past him by." Maybe. Even if it's true, it's no reason to retire. Regardless, I still have one answer to the people who think that and I hope Fedor has a similar one.

Prove it.