Fedor Emelianenko Vs Dan Henderson

Fedor Emelianenko Vs Dan Henderson

Fedor Emelianenko makes his return to the octagon on July 30th at the Sears Center in Chicago against the current StrikeForce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson. Nobody can accuse Fedor of picking an easy opponent for his return to the octagon after two losses in a row. A warm up fight does not seem like a bad idea, and would be acceptable to most people, fans and fighters alike. When a fighter is coming off back to back losses, sometimes they need to have an easy nights work just to have a confidence builder. That's not Fedor's style, he has been competing at the highest level for so long against the elite MMA fighters that he would not have it any other way. Fedor needs a challenge in order to keep himself interested and hungry enough to continue fighting. If he can't compete at the highest level any longer I believe he would rather retire, and I must say I would rather that as well.

I would not like Fedor to follow the same path as Mike Tyson, who fought on way past his prime, and as a result he got beaten by fighters that wouldn't of touched him in his prime. I would hate to see Fedor go down that same path, stay in the game past his prime and become a journey man, has been, or gate keeper, whatever you want to call it. Fedor Emelianenko is too smart for that, and I believe if he loses this fight against Dan Henderson he will seriously consider quitting MMA for good. Either that or he will have one more go.

Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Fedor hasn't lost yet and I actually believe he stands a great chance of beating Dan Henderson on July 30th. Fedor has been training in the Netherlands, Holland, working on his striking with some of the best Thai / Kick Boxing coaches in the world, so he is taking this fight extremely seriously. Fedor has felt the need to change some of his training methods, evolve if you like. This could be what he needed to do, let's see if this change pays off on fight night.

Both of these fighters are big hitters. Henderson has one punch knockout power so it would be wise for Fedor to take this fight to the ground. But Fedor loves to bang and has one punch knockout power also, so I see him standing and trading with Henderson. Will this fight come down to who has the better chin? Fedor will trade with Henderson, but if he senses he's not getting the better of Hendo, or he's taking too many big punches, Fedor will take the fight to the ground.

This is a tough come back fight for Fedor, Dan Henderson is a great fighter, highly experienced, and on a great winning streak, but I see Fedor being more suited to facing a smaller, lighter opponent compared to some of the giants he has been fighting. Dan Henderson is decent on the ground but his main asset is his striking, particularly his punch power. I think Fedor will take this fight to the ground at some point and end up submitting Dan Henderson.