Doggy Bag: A Foil for the Prodigy
Probst Blue Ribbon
Jan 17, 2010
D.
Mandel/Sherdog.com
Jason, [in this column,] you wrote: “While Fedor’s stand-up will never be featured in a striking textbook...”
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The downside to his casting punches, of course, is that he seems to injure his hands quite often. It would be interesting to see how Fedor would handle someone with high level boxing (better than Arlovski) and a good chin with good takedown defense.
-- Dustin
Jason Probst, contributor: I never
thought about hand injuries and casting, but you might have a point
there.
What makes Fedor tough is how he responds to bad situations -- which is almost always immediately. You put him in a bad spot and he explodes back at you. While there are even more question marks on Lesnar (word is he's back in training) and a Fedor-Lesnar bout is even more unlikely anytime soon given the issues between UFC, Strikeforce and M-1, I still think Lesnar has the best chance of beating him out of anyone around. If someone is going to beat Fedor they will have to take him down, lay on him, and wear him out. There is always the flat mathematical chance someone could catch him standing but that means they could get caught, too, and Fedor probably is as tough to hurt or knock out as anyone in the division. It will require someone with a gameplan that can overpower him and make him pay while he's on his back. I don't think any of Strikeforce's current heavyweights stand much of a chance, which only makes it likely that he reels off a bunch more wins, and we find ourselves wondering when he will face the best heavies. Even though he's still the best.
However, if Lesnar returns in full health, in a year I'd pick him over Fedor in a fantasy matchup. He hurts you with anything he lands standing, and his tactical awareness on the ground in the Mir rematch showed how much he's picking up. It's heresy to some to even think that, but that's my opinion on it.
Editor's note: The above response and reader submission was pieced together from two emails of the same origin.
Dear Jason: The word you wanted is “uninterested,” not “disinterested.” The dictionary definition of “disinterested” is “not influenced by self-interest” or “impartial.” But it was still a great knockout!
-- Rick
Probst: Ha! A semantics battle, eh? Well, I used disinterested to contrast with the previous statement in the piece that he'd been hot and cold. Meaning he actively was interested at one point (blowout of Sylvia, Buentello and Eilers) and then not interested (lackluster performances afterward); thereby inferring, as it were, that a previous active stance was morphed into the antithesis of that. Thanks for writing in!
Wordily, JP.
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