Though he is now riding on a three-fight losing streak, fans have been very vocal that they’d prefer him not to retire just yet. When it was put to our readers on our Facebook page there were certainly more that wanted to see him continue than not.
I will admit that I am a Fedor guy – through-and-through. When all the hardcore male fans admitted to choking back a tear following the Werdum fight, I was one of them. But it was never just about his unbeatable fighting prowess anyway, Fedor has always been the kind of fighter that refuses to fit into the mould; in fact he can probably be seen as the complete opposite of the prototypical American fighter. One of the most endearing things about the heavyweight has been his complete humbleness in the face of either triumph or loss. Even after his recent fight against Dan Henderson, when asked whether the bout was stopped too early, I knew right then, before they even translated his response, that he was just too humble to even answer it honestly. And it was so, he did think it was stopped too soon, but he didn’t want to take anything from his opponent.
It has also been recently announced that he will no longer fight for Strikeforce as he’s been cut, but just a few days later his management from M-1 declared that he would fight again this year, especially as M-1 still retains their contract with Showtime in America, just not with Strikeforce.
“We consulted with Fedor and it was decided that he should not leave the sport in this way,” said M-1 Global president Vadim Finkelstein in a statement.
He went on to say that Fedor would fight in a promotion later this year in either Moscow or St. Petersburg.
“In addition to the fight in Russia, we’re also working with our Japanese contacts to organise a New Year’s Eve event in Japan that Fedor would participate in as well,” said Finkelstein. “If all is successful, in 2012 we’ll be back in the US. All these ideas are being developed right now and we want to work exactly according to this plan.”
Although every time he is asked personally about his career, the low-spoken fighter consistently answers, “whatever is the will of God,” it seems that for now, The Last Emperor will fight on.
Even though the will fight on, it’s obvious now that he will almost never fight in the upper echelon of the heavyweight division ever again. The man that dominated the MMA world for so long, be it in the ring or in the hearts of fans, has truly stepped aside as we now look for a replacement to take on the huge hole that he has left behind – along with Randy and The Iceman and probably Tito as well.
