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MMA Link Club: Who gets put into retirement first, Fedor or Dan Henderson?

By Zach Arnold | July 29, 2011

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Member sites of the MMA Link Club

This week’s MMA Link Club featured stories

Five Ounces of Pain: Tito Ortiz and Rashad Evans express excitement, humility in anticipation of UFC 133

You’d be humble, too, if you crashed your Rolls and needed a win bonus coming up here shortly.

MMA Fighting: Even after expensive wreck, Tito Ortiz never considered pulling out of UFC 133

“You’ve got to understand, I did the Long Beach Grand Prix and I crashed four times. I was hitting walls. …On my honeymoon in my first marriage I got hit by a bus doing 30, and I fought and defended my world title against Yuki Kondo literally four months later. Stuff like that doesn’t hurt me. I think what hurts is just the repetition of training.”

NBC Sports: Rich Franklin’s life – a KO on the silver screen?

Double E Pictures announced on Wednesday that they had optioned the life rights to the former UFC middleweight champion and hired David Gardner, whose film credits include The Cleaner and The Guardian, to write a script about Franklin’s career. The name of the film will be entitled “American Fighter.”

Cage Potato: Arianny Celeste banana penis caption contest — the winners

MMA Mania: History in the making — Dan Henderson ends Wanderlei Silva’s reign of terror in Las Vegas

Seconds later, the two enter into an exchange that saw “Dangerous Dan” land that right hook that we fans and a few of his opponents — ahem, Bisping — know oh so well. The punch froze Silva. It seemed like he just stood there for the second it took a left hook to crash into his jaw. “The Axe Murderer” immediately collapsed onto the mat and the fight was over.

5th Round: Practice makes perfect for JZ Cavalcante

Bleacher Report: Dan Henderson will knock out Fedor

If Rampage Jackson, one of the greatest American Light Heavyweights in MMA besides Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, and Tito Ortiz, was unsuccessful in knocking Dan Henderson out, and if Anderson Silva could not knock out Dan Henderson, then what chance does Fedor have of knocking Henderson out?

Middle Easy: Greg Jackson really wants to see Nate Marquardt back in the UFC

Lowkick: Tim Kennedy — I’m going to have to trade with Robbie Lawler

I just want to fight the best guys. I don’t look back, I only look forward. I know the fight with Jacare was close, it was controversial. It was a close fight, but I don’t care, I just want to fight the best. I think Robbie’s the next best guy, if I can beat him; I want to move on to the next guy. I don’t know if UFC guys will be coming over, me going over there, or me fighting the Strikeforce champion I don’t care. I just want to fight the best.

The Fight Nerd: “Ip Man” movie review

MMA Convert (Jim Genia): Fedor vs. Henderson Strikeforce event preview

Fear not for the heavyweight legend, though; given that Fedor’s career has been spent crushing men much bigger, he should have no problem getting Henderson down and smooshing him.

MMA Payout: Anderson Silva signs a whopper of an endorsement deal with Burger King

Topics: Media, MMA, StrikeForce, UFC, Zach Arnold | 37 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

37 Responses to “MMA Link Club: Who gets put into retirement first, Fedor or Dan Henderson?”

  1. The Gaijin says:

    Well…Fedor weighed in just over 220lbs while Dan came in at 207lbs. Fedor actually looked visibly fitter than his last three weigh-ins, so at least it looks like he was training harder than previous camps.

    Dan looked pretty jacked for being an “undersized MW”. This was a good 207 not a “Ninja”, if you will.

    I think Fedor will take this one by 2nd rd. sub.

  2. 45 Huddle says:

    223 with cutting weight? Yikes!

    A Middleweight vs. a Light Heavyweight fighting at Heavyweight. The relevence of this fight is off the charts!!

    Fedor’s shape means nothing. Chuck Liddell looked in the best shape of his career for the Rich Franklin fight. When it’s time to decline, no amount of cardio is going to matter….

    • edub says:

      Maybe it is time for you to take a break…

    • The Gaijin says:

      Who said he was cutting weight? He said a number of times that wasn’t the case. He said he was planning on coming in around 220 rather than the 230-235 he had been.

      The Chuck Liddell point is SO off base. One of Liddell’s big attributes during his run was having an iron chin – which he used to walk thru punches to deliver them (see: Silva, Wanderlei) and then he begain to have major chin issues. Fedor has never been knocked down let alone knocked out and he’s had his chin tested numerous times, including against Bigfoot. One of the biggest issues with Fedor was that people that that he wasn’t taking his training/camps seriously enough and was stuck in a competitive rut. Based on all accounts he has changed up his camp (though I don’t think anywhere near enough yet to be an elite HW again) and coming in 10+ pounds lighter and looking in better shape means a lot.

      Where do you come up with this crap?

  3. edub says:

    Hahahahahah Business as usual, Overeem’s been cut from Strikeforce.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      The guy lied to them. He said he was injured and then took a fight.

      When you lie to your boss, you get the AX!!

      • edub says:

        When did he say he’d be able to fight again, what was it? Oh October, exactly the time he took a fight in United Glory.

        Besides both sides were in negotiations for a new contract, there’s no negotiating in good faith with Zuffa. If you try to bargain they throw their weight around, it is what it is.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Diaz bargained.

          Other fighters have gained ground.

          White said they were told there was an injury. He has no reason to lie. Even HDNet is saying he has injuries. He used those as EXCUSES to not fight. And then as soon as he is out of the GP, he says he is okay to fight again.

          He lied. He is gone.

        • edub says:

          He did the same thing Diaz did, except his was injuries, not a make believe boxing match. Is it ok for Diaz to do it because he ended up in the UFC, and not for Overeem because he ended up outside of it?

          And again, because apparently you didn’t understand, his injuries prevented him from competing in September. The kickboxing show is in October, which is the month he said would be ready to return.

          ANd stop using what White or Logic says as factual evidence. You get killed on here routinely because they rarely come to fruition.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Telling them you are injured and then taking other fights is 100% different then using a boxing fight as leverage.

          One is just fly out lying to your boss to manipulate the situation.

          And what I’m using a lot from his HH from The UG, who broke this story a few days ago along with a bunch of others the last month.

          And White didn’t lie. He said Overeem was injured and fans called him a liar. Now it’s coming out that it was the excuse he used. So White did not lie.

          SF has the right to refuse a fight…. You can’t tell them you are injured and then sign on for another fight without asking for approval.

          He was looking for a way out. He was being a flake just like he has been for a long time….

        • edub says:

          Yes sf has the right to refuse fights. Overeem also has the right by his contract to take fights in other organizations. Overeem quoted injuries when he said he would not be ready to fight by September, he also said he’d be ready by october. And that’s exactly when he took a fight in united glory.

          Dana white has lied many many many times. If he tries to claim there was no contract negotiations going on behind close doors, and that overeems departure was strictly for “lying” he isn’t being truthful. Its as simple as that.

        • The Gaijin says:

          “ANd stop using what White or Logic says as factual evidence. You get killed on here routinely because they rarely come to fruition.”

          “And what I’m using a lot from his HH from The UG, who broke this story a few days ago along with a bunch of others the last month.”

          But remember that insightful UG post 45 provided us about the reason for Overeem getting pulled from the fight was that he was racing to get off cycle? That turned out to be 100% true. Not even “mmalogic” himself tried to run with that one…lol

    • The Gaijin says:

      Well to be fair, Overeem not fighting in Strikeforce while holding the HW title is somewhat “business as usual”.

  4. 45 Huddle says:

    Concerning Overeem…. Either:

    1) He will decide the money is worthy it compared to having to cycle on and off his PED’s all of the time and sign with the UFC.

    or

    2) He wil just juice up, take the paycut, and do the international circuit by fighting scrubs for easy paydays.

    I’m leaning towards #2 right now. I think the Werdum fight had his management realizing where he is at and knowing they need huge paydays for him ASAP before he loses.

    As for the Strikeforce Grand Prix. Overeem is out and cut. Rumor is that Barnett is having problems getting his licenses. It’s all falling apart.

    Scott Coker didn’t even have Overeem signed through the end of the tournament and also had a guy who had no chance of getting in good with the AC’s. It was doomed to fail from the beginning.

  5. 45 Huddle says:

    MMA Logic is also saying Sergei is about to be cut if he doesn’t sign an exclusive contract for the rest of the tournament.

    It’s simple…. Don’t sign up for a tournament and then find any excuses not to fight in it.

    Sergei signed up for an October fight…. Not smart.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Also looks like SF has first rights to say no to fights, and the fighters weren’t even going to Zuffa for approval.

      NBA players don’t play in other leagues during NBA season.

      Time to find out who wants to fight the best and who doesn’t….

  6. edub says:

    So you gotta wonder who’s gonna come out and say they were wrong about the SF GP ever completing on time with all the same fighters.

    I’m pretty sure I’m part of a small group that said this thing would never finish, let alone be on time…

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Time to just fold SF and get their better talent in the UFC….

      The “GP”…. If you can even call it that right now…. Is completely pointless…

  7. EJ says:

    Well it’s about time, I know people freaked out when Dana talked about being more hands on but it’s for the best. Too many guys these days are on some bs and the message needs to be sent that Zuffa runs the show not the fighters. The sooner that happens the more we can just focus on the fights not these little games which are hurting the sport the farther mma gets away from boxing the better for all mma fans.

  8. Jonathan says:

    On the eve of our famous wager, I wish you the best of luck 45 Huddle.

    Are we truly playing for keeps?

  9. Chuck says:

    FINALLY! A picture of Arianny kissing a giant banana-penis. Now my life is complete! I think we can just end MMA now, right?

  10. David m says:

    45 can you please respond to Gaijin’s post on Chuck Liddell in which he owns you badly? Generally it is bad form to lose an argument and to keep posting on the same thread as if said owning did not occur. Thx

    • The Gaijin says:

      To be fair I think I only made that post this morning (Sat.), so he may not have been on here today to see it and respond (or ignore) yet.

      • 45 Huddle says:

        You both aren’t looking to good on that one.

        Iron Chin for Fedor?

        He was wobbled multiple times in the fight with Henderson.

        Fedor Emelianenko is only 34 years old. The sport has passed him by a long time ago…. It’s time for you guys to get over it.

        I predicted Henderson winning, and I was so right. You both made bad predictions.

        Dan Henderson isn’t even that great of a LHW by today’s standards. And he KO’d Fedor Emelianenko.

        Fedor was the best Heavyweight from 2002 to 2005. He ducked competition for years after that and when he started fighting better competition, all of a sudden he got “old” at 34.

        What did I say???

        “Fedor’s shape means nothing. Chuck Liddell looked in the best shape of his career for the Rich Franklin fight. When it’s time to decline, no amount of cardio is going to matter….”

        I was spot on. The only difference is that Liddell just got old. Fedor is still young. He just got passed over years ago but hung on because of “boxing” like matchmaking that favored him to keep his undefeated record….

        • The Gaijin says:

          “He was wobbled multiple times in the fight with Henderson.”

          He was wobbled ONCE before the fight ending shot(s), when he walked directly into a bomb. Most guys would have been flattened and he was stopped in his tracks. Up until he got tko’d last night he’d never been dropped or stopped, so I wasn’t wrong on any account, actually. I was making statements based on available information, which was correct.

          “Fedor Emelianenko is only 34 years old. The sport has passed him by a long time ago…. It’s time for you guys to get over it.

          I predicted Henderson winning, and I was so right. You both made bad predictions.”

          Get over what exactly? Didn’t lose a wink of sleep over it last night and I am admittedly horrendous at fight predictions, the sun still came up for me today and it was an amazing day in Central Park. I bet a good piece of paper on Fedor losing to Werdum after I saw what he looked like at the weigh-ins…so it’s not like my life revolved around the guy.

          Unlike online commenters like Subo and you 45, I don’t validate my life and puff my chest out based on the accomplishments or defeats of other people, particularly in a niche professional sport. Glad you feel like your life is complete b/c Fedor lost (and Zuffa won I guess?)…mma is so bizarre, it has this giant subset of fans that seem to try to latch on to whoever or whatever is successful and ride on those accomplishments while patting their own back and congratulating themselves when that person/company succeeds. So strange.

          My prediction was that Fedor would knock Hendo down and finish him off on the ground…I was about as close to being bang on as anyone that predicted wrong.

          “Fedor was the best Heavyweight from 2002 to 2005. He ducked competition for years after that and when he started fighting better competition, all of a sudden he got “old” at 34.”

          I’d say 2002-2008. The only guys from his era he never faced were Couture, Barnett and Mir. And he attempted to fight two of them but one couldn’t keep a needle out of his ass and the other’s promoters were afraid to let him fight him. When he didn’t sign with UFC after Afflication folded, then you can start saying he diverged from the pool of the best HW talent and I will not disagree.

          “What did I say???

          “Fedor’s shape means nothing. Chuck Liddell looked in the best shape of his career for the Rich Franklin fight. When it’s time to decline, no amount of cardio is going to matter….”

          I was spot on.”

          You were not spot on because your analogy was and is still so far off base it isn’t even funny. The example of people saying Liddell came in in the best shape of his life meant nothing, because his chin was fucked. This was completely inapplicable to the Fedor situation, no matter how hard you try to shoehorn it.

  11. Chuck says:

    Well, it’s the end of an era, for good this time. Henderson blasted away on Fedor for a 1st round TKO. Stoppage seemed a smidgen early, but it looked like Hendo was going to stop Fedor anyway.

    • edub says:

      Looks are always just looks though. Fedor took the hard shot to the chin, and two unanswered blows to the back of the head. Then still had the ware with all to roll over back to guard. This was after Herb had stopped it, but did nothing to stop henderson and he continued punching. Fedor was wobbly when he stood, but standing up ANYBODY after a shot like that and they’ll be wobbly. It was an early stoppage.

      • Steve4192 says:

        “It was an early stoppage.”

        No.

        It was a late stoppage.

        If Herb had got in there before Hendo landed the back of the head shots, Fedor would have remained prone on the mat. Hendo put him to sleep with the under-the-arm shot that caused him to face plant and then woke him up with the with those punches to the back of the head (similar to how Rampage woke up Chuck with ground and pound after putting him to sleep with a hook).

        Fedor was clearly OUT when he face planted and was laying on top his hands. Good call by Dean to recognize that and stop the fight. Unfortunately, he was out of position and couldn’t break it up in time to prevent the unnecessary ground and pound.

        • edub says:

          He woke up after the two shots to the back of the head, we have no idea if it were the two shots to the back of the head that woke him up.

          If we’re being technical here, immediately after dan lands the uppercut it could be stopped. But since it wasn’t dan lands two shots directly to the back of the head. By rule immediately after those illegal shots landed Herb should of timed the fight and given Fedor 5 minutes to recover. Knocking someone on their face is not an excuse to wale on the back of somebody’s skull. And stopping after two shots to the head while somebody is rolling over to defend his self is not the correct answer.

  12. spacedog says:

    War Fedor.

    His only hope now is the fact that his contract is up, both with SF and, I believe, with M-1 Global. If he decides to leave, maybe he could actually leave Russia for 6 months to a year and spend time with a proper coach, camp, and training partners.

    Stoppage was early, but whatever, he should never have allowed himself to be swept so easily.

    • EJ says:

      There was nothing early about the stoppage he was laid out and flopped face first into the mat. Seriously why his fans continue to try and make excuses for him time after time even after he clearly gets beat it’s baffling. Fedor is done he was KTFO by a MW, save the excuses and crying and face facts sooner or later no matter how good you are time catches up with you this is no different.

  13. liger05 says:

    Age isn’t what determines if a fighter is old. Floyd Mayweather for example at 34 is fresher than a 31 year old Miguel Cotto.

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