Who Is The Best Heavyweight In MMA?

The moment Brock Lesnar beat the goo out of Frank Mir at UFC 100, the Lesnar hype train hit full speed. Brock is now ranked at the very top of several legitimate heavyweight ranking lists, beaten out only by one man you might not have heard too much about: Fedor Emelianenko.

Fedor Emelianenko - Image: Zuma Press

Who is Fedor? He’s a portly looking Russian who looks more like a window washer than a cage champion. But for nearly a decade he has fought in Japan, beating out a huge amount of the world’s best heavyweights. His record currently stands at 30-1, with the only loss coming via a cut from an illegal elbow that many claim should have been ruled a no contest. Simply put, Fedor is without a doubt the best heavyweight in the world, and many hardcore mixed martial arts fans have a total boner for the idea of him coming to the UFC and destroying Brock Lesnar.

The problem? Fedor and the UFC don’t get along. His management claims that restrictive contract clauses make joining the UFC impossible. The UFC responds that Fedor wants to have his cake and eat it too – to get paid an estimated 2 million dollars per fight without having to fight exclusively for the UFC. While Fedor is correct in his claim that UFC contracts are more restrictive than a straight jacket, the UFC also ain’t joking when they say Fedor’s demands are unreasonable. Long story short, even with UFC president Dana White declaring he’d make Brock vs Fedor happen somehow, it could be a while before these two groups see eye to eye.

In the meantime, next up for Brock Lesnar seems to be the winner of Cain Velasquez vs Shane Carwin in late October. Unless Randy Couture has anything to say about it … the Natural has been quite vocal about wanting a rematch against Lesnar, and he feels like a strong win over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira would put him back on the path to another title shot. He’s also made it clear that if Fedor comes to the UFC, he should get first crack at him. Back in 2008 Couture tried to break his UFC contract to arrange a fight against Fedor, but a lengthy legal battle resulted in Randy’s return to the octagon with a new contract promising the UFC would make a reasonable effort to set up a Couture vs Fedor fight.

So for a guy most people don’t know who isn’t even in the UFC, Fedor Emelianenko sure does have some stiff opposition lined up if he ever chooses to sign on the dotted line. And we haven’t even brought up Fedor’s nemesis Mirko Crocop or the large number of UFC fighters that have called out the Russian fighter over the years. For now, we’ll just have to live with him being a free agent … he fights again on August 1st against former UFC champion Josh Barnett at Affliction: Trilogy.