Strikeforce Fedor vs. Henderson Recap: The Emperor falls, Tate wins
Posted on July 31, 2011, 12:49 AM by Ryan VenturaLong time fans from all corners of the globe have patiently waited for the main event between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson. The Last Emperor came to the fight in the best shape of his life and seemed very ready for the heavy hands of Dangerous Dan. As soon as the bell rang, the two living legends squared off in the six sided cage, and right off the bat swung for the fences. After a very heavy and powerful exchange with both fighters tasting leather, the two engaged in a clinch battle against the cage with Henderson seeming to have the upper hand.
After minutes of battling with Fedor’s back pushed against the fence, Herb Dean broke the two up. Emelianenko answered back to Hendo with a devastating flurry, but Dan survived the onslaught. While the Russian fighter was trying to finish the American with Henderson’s back to the canvas, using his Olympic caliber wrestling he managed to get back up to his feet after being hurt. Henderson replied to Fedor with a heavy right ‘H-Bomb’ uppercut, sending the Emperor to the canvas, and a rainfall of punches to the ground followed. With referee Herb Dean watching very closely, he stopped the fight 4:12 in the first round.
Questions after seeing Fedor vs. Henderson:
-Did referee Herb Dean stop the fight too early?
-Is it time for Fedor Emelianenko to retire?
-Is Dan Henderson returning to the UFC after this win or does he defend his Strikeforce light heavyweight.
Notes from Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson:
-Miesha Tate showcased some wonderful wrestling and strength against the now former 135lbs woman’s champion Marloes Coenen. Did you see Tate arm triangle choking BJJ black belt Coenen in your mind? I didn’t see that coming personally and big props to her for the hard earned victory.
-Robbie Lawler didn’t look like himself against the always ready Tim Kennedy. The decorated military man showcased some well-rounded skills, while Robbie didn’t let his hands go like he usually does. I’m very interested in seeing Tim face the winner of Jacare Souza and Luke Rockhold.
-The fight between Paul Daley and Tyron Woodley went exactly the way I saw it in my head. Woodley’s style may not be the most fan friendly, but other than Nick Diaz no one in the welterweight division wants to stand with ‘Semtex’ strikes. Expect Woodley to compete for the vacant title belt.
-Tarec Saffiedine showcased some wonderful striking against Scott Smith. Saffiedine is only 24 years old with the sky will be the limit for him in the welterweight division with more time and development.
Lowkick.com Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson main card awards:
Fight of the Night – Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate put on a hell of a match and a wonderful grappling clinic.
Performance of the Night – Tonight was Tarec Saffiedine’s coming out party on the main stage. He showcased some spectacular stand up, mixed in with some very good clinch work. Make sure to keep an eye out for this top prospect!
Finish of the Night – I give this one to Miesha Tate for her surprise arm triangle choke on accomplished grappler Marloes Coenen.
Disappointment of the Night – The ending of Fedor vs. Henderson. Not because I’m upset Fedor lost, but because I wish the moment could have lasted longer.
Photo: CageWriter
Comments
Herb Dean shuld retire
STFU....
Hmm, I gotta say ... I think it was an early stoppage. Both fighters were throwing bombs and both were hurt in that first round, but I dont think Fedor was out of it, he was just dazed.
I thought you did. Truth is if it was anyone other than Fedor that dropped like a fish and didn't intelligently defend himself, there would be little to no controversy. He lost. It sucks, but he lost.
Clown's face with a man's car!!!! oxymoron and trying to hard...idiot.
from now on im with dan miragliotta all the way
Dick
Have to agree here. I think with such an important and hyped up fight taking place including 2 legends of the game, the ref should give them the benefit of the doubt and let it go as long as as possible. There was no evidence of Fedor being knocked out and Dean stopped it just as he was regaining his composure and rolling back to face Hendo. Just my 2 cents but as a fan and a believer in the great comeback ability of Emelianenko I'd have liked to see it go at least 5 more seconds.
Wait what? Coenen vs Tate fight of the night???
umm He was face down, ass up, and limp as a noodle! I too had to rewatch the knockout, and I thought it was a little fast at first. First couple of shots Fedor took he was out. Then I saw him start to recover however Dean was on top of him shielding him from more punishment. What we didnt see was Fedor falling all over the place when he tried to get up, because the camera went on Hendo. Shamrock pointed that out.
Fedor was and is a good champion/ role model. There is no need to make him take more punishment than he needs to take to prove anything to anyone. Was a good call by the ref. Lets also point out Hendo was only 14 to 16 pounds lighter than Fedor and in my book that isnt a bad loss for Fedor. Everyone wanted to see him fight the creme of the crop and now he is. He is getting the losses his record should have had a long time ago...but he is still a bad a$$ man. He has lost to a brazilian submission specialist, a sasquatch who had him by a large amount of weight, and Hendo. Seriously, he could have taken easy fights to finish his career out if he wanted too....but he hasnt! Let him continue to fight! Was a very exciting fight.
Who didnt see Paul Daily loosing to a wrestler...However his defence was better than I thought it would be.
im a huge fan of fedor, but he lost plain and simple, if the ref stops the fight u lose. he didnt end up flat out for no reason, hendo put him there. people built up fedor to be invincible, but he never said he was. losses are losses. fedor built up an incredible 10 year streak and for that he will always be a legend but for now he is irrelivent in the HW rankings. That being said if he isn't retiring i fully expect him to bounce back
If this truly is the end Fedor, thank you for the many memories.
How many times did you watch the replay?
i think corey said this in another topic naybe he ia so brokenhearted he paste this to all topics.
WoW!!! 3 losses in a row. i dont know what to say. Werdum, Silva, Henderson. Hell of a line up. Either he's on a bad losing streak or he's losing to top guys, although i dont think Werdum or Silva are that top. IDK contradicting myself. IDK....
He did look good but Hendo was better
I watched it six times and i still see that fedor face plant inthe mat and fedor bombarded him with h bomb.
good job fedor you got ko'd by a middleweight ^^
In fairness to fedor he ko so many fighters double his size(in pride) you ride too much on danas comment.
I don't now if we been watching the same fight Fedor is the one who dropped down Hendo with combination and Hendo landen one upercut and the Ref stopped the fight wile Fedor defending.Lesnar got beath up without defending whole round from Carwin or Anderson Silva got beat up for 4 and half round.Fedor was in that position in so many fights
your comparing to wayy different fights brock had his hands up trying to block cant do much else when you got 30 punches coming at you lol and silva never went limp or looked knocked out....after the replay i saw why herbs stopped the fight he could have let it go for a few more seconds but the reason he stopped it is reasonable
watch again Fedor had his hands up aswell
Fedor went LIMP, FACEDOWN into the MAT!!!!!!!
Brock didn't go limp at ANY time....
Now, he recovered quickly, but the ref has to make his decisions very quick for fighters safety. Thats why its a ok stoppage in most peoples book..
Just because he recovered when the ref had already seen him go limp and not being able to defend himself, doesn't mean that he should have let it go no. If Fedor never would have gone limp the i would have agreed with you. It hought the fight was stopped to quick too, BUT then i saw the replay!!!! That was a correct decision by Herb Dean....
It's pointless, you can't tell these Fedor fans, they just wont accept it, they would still argue the toss even if Hendo would have taken his head clean off, he lost, plain and simple, he got KTFO by a much better fighter imo, he took Fedors shots but Fedor couldn't take his, get over it man, stop embarrasing Fedor by making silly excuses for him, it's lame, he was limp and defenceless and still falling all over the place when he got to his feet. The H bomb does it again.....: )
Yeaah, and its a shame!!!!
I really liked Fedor too, but i have never been on his hypetrain though.
What bugs me the most is that they all claim to be his fans but they don't really seem that concerned with his wellbeing....
What does it take for them to accept that he lost?!
Him in a coma or being totally punchdrunk?!!
He should retire because he has nothing left to prove, and also he hasn't the skills to win over the more wellrounded and better trained fighters of today. At least the best of them he can't beat.
Its like this, Fedor WAS a great hw.
He has the most impressive winstreak in the history of MMA, maybe of ALL combat sports. And it will most probably NEVER be repeated again....
We can into detail with if he fought the best of the best during all those fights or not, but thats water under the bridge now....
We can into detail how wellrounded most fighters was in the PRIDE-era too, but it doesn't matter right now either...
He ISN'T a factor in the hw division anymore. THATS whats important, NOT what he WAS....
Well of course you fedor fans would say the fight was stopped early. Dan fans are probably saying that was a good call. Now lets here what Dana white has to say!
Fedor will retire the night he gets a win. Mark my words.
Дэн бил по затылку. Ещё бы по яйцам Федору ударил. И тогда точно выиграл бы досрочно. А так судья помог. Федор ушатал бы Дэна. Всё куплено Даной.
imagine if fedor had went to the ufc after he beat cro cop. He would have destroyed sylvia, arlovski, mir. He would have been HW champ and we would have seen Couture vs Fedor. In his prime he could have beaten any1 because he put together good gameplans and was very technical, now it seems he goes out and swings for the fences
I think the stoppage was a bit too sudden, simply because it's Fedor he's one of the toughest, most resilient fighters around. We've seen Lesnar, Edgar, Diaz etc. look like they were finished, only to recover and win. Like Diaz, Fedor face planted but immediately tried to recover, turning into Hendo. He was getting battered for sure but I think the ref could have gave it another 5-10 seconds or so.
Fedor is not the same fighter anymore, he looked a step slower, his grappling, body control, quickness etc.. were amazing in his prime. He let Hendo get up off his back and reverse position on him, and got stuck in a compromising position, setting up Hendo's finish.
Fedor is still one of the greatest to ever do it though, a true warrior, people will probably take em off the p4p list now but it doesn't matter, fighters like hendo, fedor, penn etc are beyond the monthly p4p lists.
Oh yea I forgot to give Hendo proper credit for his win lol....Hendo is a beast!
For fighter safety, if a fighter goes limp and is not defending themselves intelligently, like Fedor, the ref will stop the fight, especially if they see the fighter go limp, that's the key, and Fedor clearly went limp and face planted into the matt after taking that uppercut, i really don't see any grounds for argument, people should be giving Hendo the props he deserves........: )
The things I was most impressed by on this card were Kennedy's relentless TDs and scrambling, Tate's skills all-round (especially the submission), Daley's TDD.
The things I was dissapointed by were Daley's timid striking (Kos fight obviously in his mind), Coenen and Tate's cardio (especially for being 135s), length of Fedor Hendo fight.
The worst thing about that card was I still can't decide if I think the main event resulted in a early stoppage or not.... hopefully I resolve this soon. I would rather think it was early than not know at all.
goes to T wood
Why are people saying it was an early stoppage? come on man, Fedor face planted into the matt after taking that uppercut and was still out of it after Herb pulled Dan off, i've always thought Fedor was over rated but you guys (his fans) shouldn't embarras him by making excuses for him, i was dissapointed with Daley, he had a few chances to take that fight in the third when Woodley gassed, Daley should have jumped right on him. Scott Smith needs to re evaluate his career now imo, Fair play to Meisha Tate too, i didn't expect that, especially by submission, Fair play to Kennedy too he fought a smart fight, Robbie looked gun shy for some reason, just wouldn't pull the trigger. It wasn't the best SF event but it was ok, worth watching anyway........
saw that coming!
whoever he fights,whenever he fights I hope the motherf#$%^&* of Hendo gets KKKKKKKKKKKTTTTTTTTTTTFFFFFFFFFFFFOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
I believe that Fedor should retire the man is a legend there are not doubts about his ability BUT there comes a time in life not just in MMA that we recognized our heroes has passed their prime and I believe that Fedor's time has come 3 loses in a row weather controversial or not it is still 3 loses in a row. Fedor deserve to retire on top like the champion that he was unfortunately that did not happen. Weather you like Fedor or not you HAVE to respect what he did in MMA and if you don't respect what he did inside that ring/cage/octagon then your not a true fan of MMA.
Good luck to the Last Emperor.....
That was a bullshit stoppage, I have watched over and over, love both fighters, but that was bullshit. So sorry that it was Herb dean being over protective, he has been a great ref, but wow he gave Fedor about half a second ( try Check Kongo, Brock ect. he screwed what could have been an epic battle.
This isn't Mortal Kombat, this sport has rules.
After a few drinks etc. I've come to a good conclusion, maybe not. He's 9 lives are up. The dude has survived a lot in the fight game, it's luck and heart. You can tell in the fight that he had the heart but was just unlucky. That uppercut came out of nowhere, i mean just out of nothing, he wasn't ready for it, it hit him on the button. I think the time of "luck" is catching up with him. As a great fighter as he is, luck plays a big part of it, and unforgettably he's been unlucky in the past 3 fights. He was doing good against Werdum, then got caught. The first round with Big Foot was also great, and he won that, but got taken down and couldn't get the big man off of him, with Hendo it was back and forth he got the upper hand, dan did a great escape from the button and hit Fedor on the button that you normally just don't see. Truthfully, if you belieave in luck etc. he's out of it. He looked in good shape, he seemed motivated. Just unlucky is all, or maybe not. Maybe its time to hang em up. I would watch a Fedor fight over any fight on the main card in the UFC. My only beef is that people will forget that he did for nearly 8-9 years of incredible career that has yet to be matched by any fighter in any weightclass and discredit him because of his 3 fight losing streak, it's unfair. All the greats lose their last fights, Chuck, Sakuraba, Gracie's, Ali, Tyson, i mean the list goes on, only some know when to retire, but the greats never retire, they get beaten out of the position. There has never been a fighter in MMA where the Fans & Media, fighters agree that he was the greatest MMA fighter to date. Nobody can take that away from the guy. I'd love to see him fight again.