Fight Details: 265 lbs. WAMMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko (30-1) vs. Josh “The Babyface Assassin” Barnett (24-5)
Odds: (-500 Emelianenko / +300 Barnett) at Sportsbook.com
Prediction: Fedor remains the world’s #1 Heavyweight by TKO midway through Round 2.
The main event of the night is the best Heavyweight matchup possible, as the world’s clear top 2 heavyweights will finally, after years of waiting, meet up to establish a pecking order at Heavyweight.
Even giving an overview of Fedor’s accomplishments is asinine. No one in any weight class has ever been as dominant as Emelianenko, who has not only fought all the top opposition for years, but has crushed them all in embarassing fashion. While Barnett has not reached the same heights as Fedor, he is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion with more technique and ability than anyone in the division, including Emelianenko.
Barnett has been one of the best Heavyweight fighters on Earth for nearly a decade now. His combination of size, strength, unorthodox offense, crisp punching, knockout power, powerful wrestling, and incredible submissions make him one of the most dangerous fighters in the history of the sport. In fact, the only possible knock on Barnett is that he has a tendency to pass on top competition sometimes so that he can fight smaller guys in Pancrase or do pro wrestling appearances. Despite that, though, he has still faced a bevy of top heavyweights and comported himself extremely well.
It is telling that Barnett was criticized for his last performance despite destroying a skilled fighter in Gilbert Yvel. That even a TKO victory against a solid opponent like Yvel is considered a disappointment only goes to show how much potential Barnett actually has.
Emelianenko, for his part, is more legend than man at this point. It’s hard to decide which is more impressive: the fact that he has completely destroyed top Heavyweights ranging from Mark Coleman to Cro Cop to Noguiera, all in their primes, without allowing them any offense whatsoever, or the fact that the few times he has been in trouble, following a Kevin Randleman suplex and a huge haymaker from Kazuyuki Fujita, he has not only recovered but come back to end the fight within a minute.
His punching is unorthodox but hugely effective, and his ground game is probably the best at Heavyweight, since he can not only submit guys from the top and bottom, but his ground and pound is nightmare-inducing. The one weakness Fedor has shown is that he cuts easily and brutally. His sole “loss” came after his head got split wide open by Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, and his second fight with Noguiera was called when an accidental headbutt opened a nauseating gash on his forehead.
Barnett has all the tools to finally topple the most dominant champion in the sport’s history, but the question is whether or not he will be able to use those tools to full effect with Emelianenko coming at him. On paper, this is a very even fight, but then again, so was Fedor vs. Noguiera, and Emelianenko made one of the greatest fighters of all time look like an amateur twice.
No one has ever been able to solve the riddle of Emelianenko, and despite all his talent, I don’t see Barnett being the first. I see the two trading some serious shots, but ultimately Fedor’s unorthodox sambo takedowns will land him in top position, where he will destroy Barnett with thunderous punches from inside the big man’s guard.
Fedor remains the world’s #1 Heavyweight by TKO midway through Round 2.
