I get what you’re saying in regards to maybe a guy like Randleman. But surely Ricardo Arona knew how to defend sweeps, yet Fedor swept him. Even ol Chael is a black belt now, and Fedor swept him even in his 40s. I don’t quite buy the idea that Fedor wouldn’t be able sweep or sub anyone today.
Good post, and I apologize that I have to just quickly bulletpoint some stuff since I’m working atm. Before I do though—do you ever make highlight vids still? I liked the ones I saw, God, must’ve been a decade ago now. Crazy how time flies.
—Totally agree with how the fight plays out in a ring. Fedor was great at quickly closing distance and off-balancing guys, and I see him doing the same to Francis in a ring. In a cage, I wouldn’t go with Francis winning 7/10, that seems excessive; but I def agree that Fedor’s style worked much better in a ring (like Mirko, but Mirko’s style was even more dependent on it and never really translated well to a cage). Francis would have much more success against Fedor in a cage. I’d actually say that Fedor was fighting better in a cage than he ever had during his Bellator run. In the Strikeforce years I don’t think he even had a cage at his gym.
—It will be interesting to see how Francis looks post knee injury. I know he was injured against Gane so I don’t want to sound too harsh, but the ground game from both those guys was very low level imho. While I agree that Francis hits a lot harder than Bigfoot, Bigfoot was also a BJJ black belt. A weight difference like that is very tough to overcome if the heavier guy is a black belt as well. It was also Fedor’s sloppiness that led to that TD, I don’t really see the 2003-2005 peak version of Fedor telegraph the overhand right like that.
—As far as avoiding Francis’s power, or getting a TD, Fedor is faster than Gane and has never really had a tough time closing distance on someone.
And I def wouldn’t look at Fedor’s last two performances, he was years past his expiration date. But anyway, who knows, fantasy matchups are just that after all.