Sherdog.com Preview: Fedor vs. Lindland
Fedor vs. Lindland
Apr 13, 2007
As the resident playboy of mixed martial arts, Calvin Ayre has
proven that he knows how to get people talking. It's not everyday
you have the best heavyweight in the world taking on arguably the
best middleweight in the world. Curiosity alone should be enough to
get your average MMA fan to jack up his cable bill for the
month.
If you do tune in, you'll not only get Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) taking on Matt Lindland (Pictures) but a quality undercard that features a potential middleweight slugfest between Andrei Semenov (Pictures) and Jorge Santiago (Pictures), a quality female MMA bout between a couple of talented grapplers in Amanda Buckner (Pictures) and Hitomi Akano (Pictures) and as part of the "Buy one Emelianenko get the second one free!" promotion, you'll even get to see Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) take on super heavyweight brawler Eric "Big" Pele.
(I'd normally take this space to address the redundancy of a
6-foot-2, 340-pound human being using the nickname "Big" but we
haven't got all day here.)
Now, given what has happened in MMA over the course of the last few months, I feel like writing a preview is akin to holding a lit firecracker in my hand while standing in the middle of Times Square. Not only am I setting myself up to look like an idiot, but I'll also end up doing it in front of a lot of people.
Headlining Bodog's first real attempt at cutting into the UFC's now considerable market share is one of the more bizarre bits of matchmaking in recent memory as PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) takes on top ranked middleweight Matt Lindland (Pictures).
Your average MMA fan probably isn't too keen on Lindland's chances but I just saw Matt Serra (Pictures) out-strike Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) so at this point the laws of probability are a good three feet outside my window.
Writing off Lindland would be easy; he's a middleweight taking on the best heavyweight we've seen in MMA and that's exactly what Lindland is counting on.
The absurdity of the match-up creates a pressure free environment for Lindland to work in, even a semi-competitive bout, would raise his stock considerably given how stacked the deck is against him. We've already seen how Lindland's status was raised following his competitive split decision loss to Quinton Jackson (Pictures) -- now imagine what a similar performance would do for Lindland this time around. Better yet, imagine if Lindland actually wins.
Most people can only imagine beating Emelianenko because no one has been able to claim anything outside of a moral victory against the man in several years. Emelianenko's reign over the PRIDE heavyweight division is entering its fifth year and shows no signs of letting up. A loss to Lindland would be damning for Emelianenko's legacy and surely he is aware of that while a win is expected and wins him no acclaim.
It's obvious why Lindland took this fight but in Emelianenko's case it's a bit more difficult to ascertain, unless Bodog owner Calvin Ayre simply pulled up to Emelianenko's home with a dump truck full of money and a contract, in which case everyone's motivations become clear.
The table is set for, if nothing else, an interesting showdown. But the real question is "Can ‘The Law' actually win?"
Considering Lindland's tremendous amateur wrestling background and how well it has translated to MMA, there is at least some faint glimmer of hope here. Combine Lindland's wrestling with Emelianenko's often times lackadaisical takedown defense and suddenly, Lindland has a formula for success.
Just take Emelianenko down and don't try anything crazy: not exactly scintillating but it works more often than not. Given Lindland's cerebral approach to fighting and how aware he is of his own limitations, the plan for victory is a sound one.
Destroying the most well constructed game plans however seems to be Emelianenko's favorite hobby, just ask the litany of top heavyweights that he's taken out in the past few years. Emelianenko knows Lindland will come in looking for the takedown and knowing what your opponent will do is what every fighter wants to know entering a fight.
It is the one-dimensional approach that Lindland must take in order to win that will doom his chances. Emelianenko will come in looking to use his superior striking to overwhelm Lindland and should the fight leave the feet we can anticipate Emelianenko falling back on his sambo background to give Lindland fits on the ground. Either way, Emelianenko is well prepared to meet Lindland head on regardless of where the fight goes. Lindland will battle like he always does but expect Emelianenko's steady offense to win the day with a TKO midway through the second round.
If you do tune in, you'll not only get Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) taking on Matt Lindland (Pictures) but a quality undercard that features a potential middleweight slugfest between Andrei Semenov (Pictures) and Jorge Santiago (Pictures), a quality female MMA bout between a couple of talented grapplers in Amanda Buckner (Pictures) and Hitomi Akano (Pictures) and as part of the "Buy one Emelianenko get the second one free!" promotion, you'll even get to see Aleksander Emelianenko (Pictures) take on super heavyweight brawler Eric "Big" Pele.
Advertisement
Now, given what has happened in MMA over the course of the last few months, I feel like writing a preview is akin to holding a lit firecracker in my hand while standing in the middle of Times Square. Not only am I setting myself up to look like an idiot, but I'll also end up doing it in front of a lot of people.
However, if making myself look like an idiot is part of the job
description I present myself as your humble court jester. Who
knows? Maybe, I'll get a few right this time around.
Headlining Bodog's first real attempt at cutting into the UFC's now considerable market share is one of the more bizarre bits of matchmaking in recent memory as PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko (Pictures) takes on top ranked middleweight Matt Lindland (Pictures).
Your average MMA fan probably isn't too keen on Lindland's chances but I just saw Matt Serra (Pictures) out-strike Georges St. Pierre (Pictures) so at this point the laws of probability are a good three feet outside my window.
Writing off Lindland would be easy; he's a middleweight taking on the best heavyweight we've seen in MMA and that's exactly what Lindland is counting on.
The absurdity of the match-up creates a pressure free environment for Lindland to work in, even a semi-competitive bout, would raise his stock considerably given how stacked the deck is against him. We've already seen how Lindland's status was raised following his competitive split decision loss to Quinton Jackson (Pictures) -- now imagine what a similar performance would do for Lindland this time around. Better yet, imagine if Lindland actually wins.
Most people can only imagine beating Emelianenko because no one has been able to claim anything outside of a moral victory against the man in several years. Emelianenko's reign over the PRIDE heavyweight division is entering its fifth year and shows no signs of letting up. A loss to Lindland would be damning for Emelianenko's legacy and surely he is aware of that while a win is expected and wins him no acclaim.
It's obvious why Lindland took this fight but in Emelianenko's case it's a bit more difficult to ascertain, unless Bodog owner Calvin Ayre simply pulled up to Emelianenko's home with a dump truck full of money and a contract, in which case everyone's motivations become clear.
The table is set for, if nothing else, an interesting showdown. But the real question is "Can ‘The Law' actually win?"
Considering Lindland's tremendous amateur wrestling background and how well it has translated to MMA, there is at least some faint glimmer of hope here. Combine Lindland's wrestling with Emelianenko's often times lackadaisical takedown defense and suddenly, Lindland has a formula for success.
Just take Emelianenko down and don't try anything crazy: not exactly scintillating but it works more often than not. Given Lindland's cerebral approach to fighting and how aware he is of his own limitations, the plan for victory is a sound one.
Destroying the most well constructed game plans however seems to be Emelianenko's favorite hobby, just ask the litany of top heavyweights that he's taken out in the past few years. Emelianenko knows Lindland will come in looking for the takedown and knowing what your opponent will do is what every fighter wants to know entering a fight.
It is the one-dimensional approach that Lindland must take in order to win that will doom his chances. Emelianenko will come in looking to use his superior striking to overwhelm Lindland and should the fight leave the feet we can anticipate Emelianenko falling back on his sambo background to give Lindland fits on the ground. Either way, Emelianenko is well prepared to meet Lindland head on regardless of where the fight goes. Lindland will battle like he always does but expect Emelianenko's steady offense to win the day with a TKO midway through the second round.
