In this three-part series, Sherdog.com’s Jason Probst takes a closer look at some of MMA’s athletes and those in the Sweet Science with whom they share notable traits. Part two features counterparts for Fedor Emelianenko, Georges St. Pierre, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell.
Emelianenko’s 28-1 record represents the most impressive run of success in MMA history, especially when you consider the tough competition he’s faced. Although relative inactivity -- just six fights in three years -- and a drop-off in quality opposition have somewhat chipped away at his reputation, Emelianenko remains the ruling heavyweight of his time, despite an inability to secure a mega-fight with Randy Couture or a deal with the UFC.
His last outing, a 36-second stoppage of Tim Sylvia, suggests he’s still as dangerous as ever, even if he’s painfully out of the loop on securing mainstream exposure.
No matter where you fight Emelianenko, he’s going to get the better of you because he’s simply superior in every phase of the game. He has incredible technical skills, backed up by a ton of fortitude and cool-headedness. That’s why he was able to stand and trade with Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and outwork Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on the ground. Simply put, he’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, at least until B.J. Penn or Anderson Silva win a title in a higher weight division.
Robinson was the greatest boxer of his time or anyone else’s, for that matter. While he’s largely remembered by fans for winning the middleweight title five times, very little of his prime years -- when he was a welterweight -- were captured on film. Until he lost the middleweight title against Randy Turpin in 1951, he was 128-2-1, including four wins in five bouts with the bigger Jake LaMotta and victories over a slew of other hall of famers and tough contenders. At welterweight, Robinson was virtually unbeatable, as he could outbox you with lightning-quick hands and wicked power. He was also shoe-leather tough if you went toe-to-toe with him, though he rarely needed to with his superior skills.
It was only well past his prime years that Robinson had to show his toughness on a regular basis -– in the early to mid 1950s and beyond. He was well into his 30s, and his natural advantages dissipated to such a degree that he had to slug it out with naturally bigger men. Even then, he was still amazing. He was only stopped once in a 225-bout career.
Georges St. Pierre = Benny Leonard
With technical brilliance in every phase of the game, UFC welterweight champion St. Pierre suggests a new kind of fighter emerging in the game. Not content to merely cross-train and become competent in one area while depending on another, the Canadian outwrestles wrestlers like Matt Hughes and Jon Fitch with disdainful ease and beats them standing, as well. St. Pierre’s all-around technical ability comes in stark contrast to champions who, just a few years ago, were content to dominate one aspect of the sport.
Benny Leonard was probably the best lightweight that ever lived -- up there with Roberto Duran and the legendary Joe Gans -- precisely because he ushered in an era of scientific boxing, picking up the torch left by predecessors like Gene Tunney and Jimmy Slattery. In addition to a masterful sense of timing, feints and combinations, Leonard could also knock you flat with his punches, as evidenced by his impressive record of 183-19-11 (70 KO). Several of his wins were in the “newspaper decision” era --fights were quasi-official, but victory was awarded to the man judged by the press to be the winner at the final bell.
By the time he retired in 1925, Leonard had cleaned out the lightweight division, having bested tough competition like Rocky Kansas, Lew Tendler and Johnny Dundee. These men were all rough, tough battlers from a golden era of boxing, but Leonard was several levels above them in technique.
That’s the feeling you get watching St. Pierre, who may be the best functional wrestler in MMA despite having no background in amateur wrestling. Given his athletic ability and what he’s done with it, it also prompts consideration of how good fighters will be in a few years, as more people enter the sport.