Sherdog.com is reporting that Fedor Emelianenko, the Russian who is generally regarded as the world's best heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter, will take on former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia on July 19.Emelianenko and Sylvia are both free agents, and they have apparently signed with Mark Cuban's organization for what could be the biggest MMA fight outside the UFC organization in American history. The fight is slated to take place at the American Airlines Center, which is also home to Cuban's Dallas Mavericks. Emelianenko tells Sherdog:
"[Sylvia] is a good fighter, a strong fighter, the former UFC heavyweight champion, which is important. I am looking forward to fighting him and training hard for this fight."Sherdog reports that the fight is likely to be televised by Cuban's HDNet, although it's certainly a big enough fight that it could generate pay-per-view buys.
Sylvia, who is coming off a loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, will be one of the toughest opponents for Emelianenko, who has been criticized in the past for padding his record against inferior opposition. If Emelianenko wins he would likely take on Randy Couture, assuming Couture is eventually freed of his UFC contract, in a huge fight that would go a long way toward establishing Cuban's organization as a legitimate competitor for UFC.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-08-2008 @ 6:03PM
kkv65 said...
It should be a good fight, but Fedor will easily win. I would rather see Fedor VS. Couture. This would be way better fight, but again I think Fedor comes out on top.
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4-08-2008 @ 8:15PM
Jonathan said...
Its great to hear Fedor is finally going to fight some legitimate opposition which hasn't happened in quite some time now. This fight makes total sense and I think he'll beat Sylvia either in stand up or on the ground. Then bring on Randy!
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4-08-2008 @ 8:21PM
Kyle said...
All I can say is that if Tim somehow wins this fight... i don't even know, it will suck thats forsure. I hope your training Fedor, all we need is for Tim to have it in his head that he beat the worlds best. Fedor wins via submission though...so no worries.
RIP Sylvia
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4-08-2008 @ 10:27PM
El Duke said...
That's all fine and dandy, except Kurt Angle's telling everybody who'll listen that he and Randy signed a no compete clause with an as yet named company. I talked to Kurt at the Kings game last Thursday and he assured me it was NOT HDNet Fights and only had critical words for Mark Cuban. He did subtly infer which company though. I haven't decided whether I'm keeping that under my hat or not yet.
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4-09-2008 @ 7:52AM
Huh? said...
Yea Fedor was padding his record while beating Cro Cop, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman and Minotauro. You need to look back further then 2 years to discuss his career. He fought the best of the best in the HW division while in Pride. It was just after the UFC acquired Pride and they couldn't see eye to eye that he has fought nobodies.
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4-10-2008 @ 9:19PM
JoeT said...
Great fight to see!
http://www.fromthecage.com
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4-13-2008 @ 9:04PM
Darryl Thornton, Sr. said...
I don't care that Tim lost in his last fight. He did beat Vera who was claiming to be the best in the world but he had his butt handed to him by Tim. Randy is a pretty nice guy but he got a beat down 2 times by the Ice Man so he is far from being the best in the world IMHO.If you are a true fan of, let's say Randy then you will support him W or L and this is the way I support Tim. So many people cry about Tim and how he fights. Just ask AA if Tim has knock out power.I thought the Randy vs Tim fight as one of the most boring fights I have seen in 45 years especially the first round where Randy laid there holding on to Tim's back. It appeared that Randy was smart in this fight. He didn't want Tim to hit him and that was a good plan but made for a boring fight. If Randy can beat Fedor than the Ice Man could do the same but the Ice man would never take on Fedor which would be smart. I believe Tim has a better shot at Fedor then Randy does. Randy is a great wrestler but his standup is horrible and that is why Chuck KTF out Randy two times. I would love to see Randy vs Fedor and Tim vs Fedor. I like both fighters and I like Fedor as well but I do believe Tim has a punchers chance to knock Fedor out and believe Randy has a good chance to submit fedor. Many may disagree and this is fine but I do believe Tim's career is not over, far from it and I believe Randy's career is coming to a close and to see him take out Fedor would define his career. Many think Fedor is unbeatable but he didn't look good at all against the 7ft 2" guy although he did submit him he took a beating as could be seen from looking at his face. If Tim could beat Fedor then Dana White and every other fight org would be wanting to sign him. I hope he can win or his career will suffer if he lost.
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4-24-2008 @ 10:41AM
MattSmith said...
Tim sylvias stand up is arguably the best in the heavyweight division prolly because he is so tall.If he can avoid the takedown and keep it standing up he will definantly win the fight.
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