3 years ago was the end of an era. The Greatest heavyweight of all time retired after being defeated by Ryan Bader.
Fedor was almost 47 but couldn’t say “no” to a final title fight. Sadly, it was never more clear than this fight that it was time for Fedor to retire.
Besides a flash KO previously against Bader, fedor had always been competitive in losses, he always looked fast and powerful. On this night he didn’t look fast, he didn’t look powerful and he wasn’t competitive.
Forever and always the greatest.
Me and the boyz was there
I wish he had just retired after the Bigfoot or Hendo loss. He was already in his mid 30s with 30+ fights worth of mileage on him by that point. Just like with BJ, Anderson, RJJ etc you only want to remember the monster they were at their best.
Agree. It was fun watching him beat Mir, Chael, and Rampage though.
Ya he still had a lot of skill, even old and at like 50% he was still probably top 10 worthy.
The scariest man with the least attempts at intimidation.
The way Fedor was so revered was very demonstrative of how great true MMA fans were at the time. Fedor was not American, he didn’t fight in the UFC or speak much English, he wasn’t brash and wasn’t built like an action figure. But he was clearly the top heavyweight fighter in the world. No matter how much the IFC tried to convince the fans he sucked, it was obvious that he was a dominant force. It’s sad to see what the MMA fan base has largely been consumed by (terrible casual fans who don’t have a true appreciation for the sport or its fighters.)
Too bad it should have been many years earlier
