The Doggy Bag: UFC 127 Edition

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A lot of people seem to want to talk about whether Fedor was overrated or not. It seems that most people either have the viewpoint that Fedor was never that good, or that Fedor just got old. Clearly there is some truth in both. Fedor was never an unstoppable cyborg and he's certainly lost a step or two. However that argument misses the fact that heavyweights, and mixed martial artists in general, are much better than they were five years ago.

Would a prime Fedor beat Antonio Silva? I don't know, but he'd have a lot more trouble than he did against Mark Coleman. Likewise, he'd have a lot more trouble with Junior dos Santos than he did with Cro Cop, or Arlovski. But there’s no doubt Fedor was the best heavyweight of his era, and his era lasted a lot longer than most top fighters. He beat almost every other top heavyweight in the world during that era (Nog, Cro Cop, Silvia, Arlovski).

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In other sports people have a tendency to want to believe that athletes from past eras would be just as good if they played now. Do you think this is something we are seeing in MMA?
-- Ty from Arkansas

Greg Savage, Fight Week executive producer: Wow, a little levity from a fan when it comes to the Fedor situation. I am pleasantly surprised. I think you were listening to "The Savage Dog Show" this week because you echo a few points I made after Fedor dropped his second-straight fight.

First off, it is ridiculous to try to discount or discredit the dominating run he had -- racking up win after win for nearly a decade is not something we have seen in MMA, at any level. Emelianenko was easily the best heavyweight of his era and as of now still holds the most impressive record in the weight division. That’s not to say he will not be surpassed but as of now, he still is the greatest heavyweight mixed martial artist of all time.

It is easy to forget that this sport is still in its infancy. We are going to see quite a bit of turnover as MMA continues to evolve but there are still a few fighters, like Fedor, who have been able to differentiate themselves from their contemporary competition over a long period of time and they deserve our respect.

We have seen it time and again with guys like Royce Gracie, Frank Shamrock, Kazushi Sakuraba, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes and many more, guys who have been so dominant all of the sudden finding it hard to compete with anyone at a high level. All of these fighters were greats of their day and a decline in performance will never diminish what they did when they were at their best.

Ask yourself this: did Muhammad Ali’s loss to Leon Spinks take away from his remarkable accomplishments as a boxer? Did Michael Jordan’s days as a Washington Wizard or a Birmingham Baron knock any of the luster off of his basketball career? Or how about Willie Mays stumbling around Shea Stadium at the end of his amazing run on the diamond, did that preclude him from being remembered as one of the top players ever?

The resounding answer to all of those questions is no.

We may not be able to see that in the moment, but time and again greatness has a way of getting beyond all of the trivial nonsense that surrounds sports. The wheat is always separated from the chaff and the truly amazing athletes find themselves perched above the mere mortals.

Fedor was a great heavyweight, the best we have seen to date in my opinion. And, while he may have been surpassed by a number of young and talented big men, the stoic Russian will always have a preferred place among the legends of mixed martial arts.

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