"Nope. Now I don't have to hear about him anymore. I like it.... He has star power? Nobody cares. Do you realize this is something that's been created by the mixed martial arts media? Do you know how many people watched his fight the other night? 400,000 people watched it. The guy has absolutely no star power. They sold no tickets to that fight, either.... Here's the problem, the guy loses and gets to fight one of these guys? I've been saying for years this guy isn't all that. He's not great. Everybody's talking about how great this guy is, no he's not. Now he should deserve to come into the UFC and fight the best? No way!... The guys who fight in the UFC are fighting the very best three times a year. This guy hasn't fought anybody since 2005. The media created him and hyped him up. Not me. What do you want me to say? This is what I've been saying?"
-- Well, that's that. UFC President Dana White tells ESPNRadio1100 (via CageWriter.com) that he's no longer in the hunt for the elusive former Pride FC heavyweight champion, Fedor Emelianenko, after he sustained basically his first loss in a decade of competition last weekend. Emelianenko, who has famously shunned White's repeated attempts to join the UFC fray, got trapped in a Fabricio Werdum triangle choke while competing under the Strikeforce/M-1 banner, losing convincingly to a UFC castoff (Werdum was 2-2 inside the eight-walled cage). It appears that Emelianenko lost more than his aura of invincibility on June 26 -- he may have missed his chance to seal his legacy and go down as the best ever with a successful, high-profile run with the mixed martial arts marketing machine. Having said all of that, he still may go down as the best ever. And he probably doesn't really care one way or the other what fans, or Dana White, think about his career choices. Care to predict who'll have the last laugh in this never-ending saga?
Props: "The Jim Rome Show" (via 5thRound.com)
Quoteworthy:
"It was disappointing. I hate to see a guy like that. Whether his legacy was more of a mystique than it was, he stood up and he was respectful and it was tough to see. It reminded me of my first fight against Frank [Mir] when I got really anxious and fell right into the trap. That’s a tough pill to swallow. That’s a big pill to swallow and I definitely do not want to try to swallow that pill again. I feel bad for him. I don’t think any less of him. We’re human beings and we all make mistakes and it’s whether or not we can get up and better ourselves. That’s what true champions are made of, I believe."
While all kinds of remarks have been made on Fedor Emelianenko's shocking loss to Fabricio Werdum this past Saturday in San Jose, Calif., one in particular surprised everybody today. UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar stated he feels bad for the outcome, having endured a similar submission misfortune early in his career at the hands of his bitter rival, Frank Mir. Are there any real similarities here? Lesnar's body of work pales in comparison to Emelianenko's. And their losses were at markedly different points in time. Si or no?
Photos courtesy of UFC Twitter. More after the jump. To see the complete gallery click here.
Props: Tatame.com
Quoteworthy:
"It's set that he'll be back in September, and rumors point that his opponent might be Quinton Jackson. It'd be a great fight for Rogerio, he's a former UFC champion and a victory over him will move us pretty close to the title. The UFC only has top athletes and Quinton Jackson is really dangerous. He's a complete athlete, hard to be taken down. Who puts its own strategy on the fight will win, but we believe a lot on Rogerio's movement.. We'll work hard to get this victory. It'd be a great fight, but the UFC didn't confirm anything yet."
Now 2-0 in the UFC light heavyweight division, former PRIDE standout Antonio Rogerio Nogueira sets his sights on the major players in the 205-pound division, starting with former division kingpin Quinton Jackson. Despite struggling in his split decision win over Jason Brilz at UFC 114 back in May, "Minotoro" holds wins over Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeem (twice). Is "Rampage" going to be the next high profile name on that list? Or did his May 29 troubles against "The Hitman" convince you that "Lil' Nog" may be on a possible downturn -- like his heavyweight twin brother?
