Lets start with Fedor

A few years ago people were talking about him facing fighters like:

Tim Sylvia – 23-2 (ish) at the time
Arlovski – 15-5 (ish)

Fedor beats both of them and now people want him to take on:

Brock – 4-1
Cain – 6-0

See anything wrong with this picture?

Fedor beat Nog and Cro Cop. He Beat Arlovski and Sylvia. He’s been ducked by Randy and Barnett. Doesn’t a 6-0 Cain seem like a bit of a step down? I’m not bashing Cain here, but let’s be honest. If Fedor had never beaten Nog which fight would carry more weight? Fedor Vs Nog or Fedor Vs Kongo?

People ignore the concept of Fedor Vs Nog because he’s already done it twice, but the point is Fedor Vs Kongo simply pales in comparison. This is akin to the weight lifting example I gave because right now people are saying Fedor needs to prove himself by beating lesser opponents than he already has.

Make no mistake about it, Fedor *WILL* lose at some point (…maybe lol). I don’t know when or how. It could be sooner, it could be later. It could be to someone he’s already beaten or against someone that doesn’t even deserve to be in the ring with him.

Personally though I’d prefer that when it happens it be more like GSP Vs. Hughes. That felt like more of a “changing of the guard”. It was obvious GSP deserved to be in the ring. It was obvious that the winner was the “better” fighter, etc. Doesn’t that sound better than how GSP Vs Serra was?

How many people would actually consider Kongo #1 if he did beat Fedor in his next fight given his only “big” win is against Cro Cop and that he’s got losses recently against Herring and Cain.

Anderson Silva

Fedor’s name is too big of a hot button sometimes, but the point is the same for Anderson Silva. He has beaten Franklin (twice, kinda like Nog for Fedor if you must), he’s beat Henderson (a champion in his own right, etc.). Now the “top 10″ he’s faced with gives him fights like Cote and Thales. No offense to them, but they simply aren’t the same level of fighter that Henderson and Franklin are.

Realize that people were and some still are talking about Anderson facing a fighter like Bisping. This is no offense to Michael, but he doesn’t currently have a hall of fame resume. Some day he might and I wish him well. If he would beat Henderson, beat Vitor, beat Lawler, then I’d be game for him to get a shot against Anderson. For now though…really!??!

Let’s not forget GSP

I didn’t want people to think I ignored GSP, but it’s really just more of the same. He’s got wins over Hughes, over Sherk, over Alves, over Fitch, etc.

There are a few more fights you could make for him, but most aren’t nearly as compelling as what he’s already done.

The sad truth

The problem right now is you have people getting in the ring with guys like Anderson and Fedor not because they deserve it, but because they are who’s left!

The promoters have to continue putting on fights and doing what they can, but the truth is it takes a lot longer for a fighter to “build” up to being at such a high level than it does for Anderson, GSP or Fedor to knock them down.

What is now happening is that we get fights like Anderson Vs. Cote and people clamoring for Fedor Vs. people that don’t even have 10 fights.

The answer in my opinion is to focus a bit more on the people making that run at these great champions. Instead of just saying Fedor needs to fight a now 6-0 Cain, let’s give Cain two or three really good match-ups so he can get to where he should be. Lets give him some hard, battle tested competition so he can be 8-0 or 9-1 and people *KNOW* he should be fighting Fedor. Not because he’s all that’s left that hasn’t lost to him, but because he’s genuinely earned the right to fight him.

Consider a fighter like Gonzaga that recently some said was going to destory Fedor. He beats Cro Cop then loses to Randy…then loses to Werdum (again). He gets a couple wins against weaker competition (no offense Justin, but it’s true) and then turns around and loses to Carwin. I truly believe Gonzaga could reach that upper echelon, but he certainly isn’t there now and people talking like he is are just insulting Fedor.

The main worry is that if the up and coming fighters aren’t given good matchups or are simply thrown in with these fighters too early it leaves us in a very bad situation. Eventually Fedor beats a 6-0 cain and a 4-1 brock and now he’s got to prove himself against a 7-1 dos santos…then uhhhh…frank mir? Ok uhhhhhh Justin McCully? See how quickly we head to the Kimbo example from the subject?

Instead of saying Fedor (or Anderson Silva, or GSP) needs to fight half a dozen people that really aren’t quite there yet, lets see those half dozen people fight amongst each other and see who rises up to the point where they truly are deserving of the shot against him. If not then we wind up GSP Vs. Serra instead of GSP Vs Hughes. We wind up with Anderson Silva Vs Travis Lutter instead of Anderson Silva Vs. Rich Franklin.