T Nation

Fedor Emelieneko vs. Josh Barnett

#1

Courtesty, MMAnews.Com ;

"Nothing official at the moment but Mike Chiappetta at MMAfanhouse is reporting Affliction 3 will feature a main event of Fedor Emelianenko Vs. Josh Barnett on August 1st in Anahiem, CA:

Affliction's third event, featuring a main event of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett and taking place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on August 1, should be officially announced within days, a source with knowledge of the situation told FanHouse.

Though neither Emelianenko or Barnett has signed official bout agreements, they have both verbally accepted the matchup, according to the source."

They both verbally agree'd, so I'd assume they are going to announce it officially if they haven't already. At first glance I was like why the hell is Fedor facing Josh Barnett. I haven't really followed Barnett since his stint in UFC, and figured it was going to be Fedor versus a past his prime heavy weight he was going to demolish.

However looking at Barnett's record, I think there is a very real chance Barnett could jeapordize Fedor's legacy of destruction.

Barnett holds wins over, Randy Couture, Pedro Rizzo, Aleksander Emelieneko, Dan Severn, Yuki Kondo, Mark Hunt, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Jeff Monson. While some of these guys are not so special, they are all very versed wrestlers/grapplers.

Out of Barnetts 24 wins, 15 came by way of submission. His only losses come from Cro Cop (3 losses!), Pedro Rizzo, and Nogueira. Two of which he "avenged".

Will his skills as a wrestler well versed in submissions make him a better match up for Fedor? He's on a 4 fight win streak, 3 of which came in 2008, 1 in 2009 so far.

Anyone else think Barnett has some upset potential? I'm going to download his 08 fights and his 09 fights to get a better idea.

#2

[quote]MM2k8 wrote:
Courtesty, MMAnews.Com ;

"Nothing official at the moment but Mike Chiappetta at MMAfanhouse is reporting Affliction 3 will feature a main event of Fedor Emelianenko Vs. Josh Barnett on August 1st in Anahiem, CA:

Affliction’s third event, featuring a main event of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett and taking place at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., on August 1, should be officially announced within days, a source with knowledge of the situation told FanHouse.

Though neither Emelianenko or Barnett has signed official bout agreements, they have both verbally accepted the matchup, according to the source."

They both verbally agree’d, so I’d assume they are going to announce it officially if they haven’t already. At first glance I was like why the hell is Fedor facing Josh Barnett. I haven’t really followed Barnett since his stint in UFC, and figured it was going to be Fedor versus a past his prime heavy weight he was going to demolish.

However looking at Barnett’s record, I think there is a very real chance Barnett could jeapordize Fedor’s legacy of destruction.

Barnett holds wins over, Randy Couture, Pedro Rizzo, Aleksander Emelieneko, Dan Severn, Yuki Kondo, Mark Hunt, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, and Jeff Monson. While some of these guys are not so special, they are all very versed wrestlers/grapplers.

Out of Barnetts 24 wins, 15 came by way of submission. His only losses come from Cro Cop (3 losses!), Pedro Rizzo, and Nogueira. Two of which he “avenged”.

Will his skills as a wrestler well versed in submissions make him a better match up for Fedor? He’s on a 4 fight win streak, 3 of which came in 2008, 1 in 2009 so far.

Anyone else think Barnett has some upset potential? I’m going to download his 08 fights and his 09 fights to get a better idea. [/quote]

I thought he looked poor in his last two fights for Affliction. Be that as it may, a match up with Fedor will motivate him like nothing else, I’m sure.

#3

After watching his 08 and 09 fights, I think he still has a shot but it looks a lot grimmer then I previously thought -_-

#4

I was pretty excited about this match-up when affliction first signed both. Now I don’t seem to be as excited to see this. Barnett is one of my favorite fighters, but this is just not a good match-up for him. He can be pretty nasty in close, but I doubt he is going to want to trade with Fedor. I think he has to try and take him down and GNP while avoiding the arm bar. I guess he could work the clinch and do a little dirty boxing, but Fedor has some pretty quick sweeps and throws.

#5

I don’t see this going well for Barnett.

#6

I like Nikiforos’s take, but I think that it’ll motivate Barnett AND Fedor both to come in better prepared this time. Those two are so talented and dangerous even when they’re not in top form, so I’m thinking they’ll want to come in very sharp for this one. I’m hopeful this fight is going to be a masterpiece…

JR

#7

Fedor for the win.

Right now I only care about 3 fights 2 of which arent even in the works.

1 Fedor vs Arlovski II

2 Frank Mir vs lesnar

3 Anyone in front of GSP

#8

I don’t think it is possible to phase Fedor… by that I mean he could be literally be under an immediate and unavoidable threat to die and he wouldnt break a sweat.

You can’t tire him out, he won’t be submitted in an MMA match and the way he protects himself against strikes it is almost impossible to get in close to deliver knockout power, and even if you do he’ll probably get you first.

What you need is a guy that can significantly overpower him, pin him down and GnP his way to victory… It won’t be Barnett, sure he is smart, tough and strong… just not enough.

I think Lesnar is the one that could do it, not today, but a couple years and a few tough fights (but against who?) on from now. There is also Lashley, but we haven’t seen enough of his potential yet.

How off am I here?

#9

Lashley is unpolished and brand new. He has to mature a LOT before you can even think about putting him in front of Fedor without getting him killed. Lesnar is strong and a wrestler, but I don’t think he can do it now. MAAAAYBE in a few years, but I’m not sure he’ll be up to it.

#10

Awesome.

#11

Fedor is, by far, my favorite MMA fighter. No trash talk, humble, centered, powerful, etc, etc. Before the Arlovski fight, I thought he was invincible, relatively speaking. But Andrei was out pointing him in that eventful first round. He seemed to be picking up steam until he picked up the monster shot that left him out like a light. Of course, it wasn’t Fedor’s first time in trouble. That seems to be what makes him the champion that he is.

I also think that at that level, anyone has a chance to connect and dominate. If anyone, Josh has the tools to get the job done. Make no mistake, it will take a colossal effort. Guys like Fedor have such an advantage mentally. They carry a mystique about them that most fighters have to fight through and usually get stuck and get caught. Nerves are their biggest obstacle.

I would like to see Brock and Fedor fight, that is if Brock can get past Frank Mir, which I am not sure he can, but that is for another thread. I do like what Frank said on MMA Fix: Fedor has such a big, devastating left hand (or was it right hand?) that has put down some of the best in the world. I think I should have an opportunity to put my face in the way of it and see what it feels like (or something to that effect). It was both a respectful and gutsy statement. I liked it.

Bottom line: Fedor is so well rounded both standing and on the ground that I don’t think there are many who can compete with him, and I say that in the most respectful way I can. There are some great battles, but ultimately Fedor dominates. IMHO

#12

Lesnar needs a lot of years of practice you say… But do remember, Fedor is not getting younger.
Either he retires in a while undefeated or eventually someone from the new generation will beat him, ending an era of dominance sort of speak.

On topic:

I hope Fedor pulls this one out again like he always does, the mystique around the man is so big :smiley:
Barnett seems like the only person atm who can even think of going head to head with him, but I doubt he can get the win away from Fedor.

#13

This could be a very good fight, but I’m pretty confident Fedor pulls it out in the end (as always).

After Barnett, I really would love to see him fight Lesnar (though I think Fedor would sub him in Round 1), Randy (though I think Fedor would just brutalize him), Kongo (though I think Fedor would sub or G’n’P him brutally) and Mir (though I think Fedor would brutalize him in a multitude of ways).

So . . . yeah, I don’t think any of those guys would beat him. :slight_smile: But it would be interesting to see.

#14

[quote]ude garame wrote:
Lesnar needs a lot of years of practice you say… But do remember, Fedor is not getting younger.
[/quote]

Neither is Lesnar who is a whopping 9 months younger…

#15

7cd41-affliction.fedor.vs.barnett.preview.jpg419x558 53.6 KB

I would have preferred seeing this fight back in the PRIDE days, but hey, better late than never.
Should be a good fight. On a side note, the poster looks like a crappy photoshop.

#16

I think it’ll give the fans what they want. A good fight with some good exchanges, reminiscent to maybe Fedor vs. Crocop fight…

Yet like many I agree Fedor will come out on top in the end. This guy seems to improve and improve, I don’t see him stopping either. Legendary:D.