It's not the same punch in that Fedor doesn't rotate the arm to that degree and doesn't strike with the back of the hand, he strikes with the first two nuckles.
Aside from that they the rest of the mechanics are very similar to how fedor does it, leads with the shoulder to cover the chin and generate torque, whips the arm out while extending it and rotating it slightly in order to hit with the first two nuckles.
If the opponent steps in you miss the punch but your arm will naturally wrap him up (hence the term casting punch) and allow you to transition immediately into the clinch takedown.
If the opponent steps back he will either evade it or more probably get hit by the punch, as the added reach you get from turning the the shoulder and extending the arm is difficult for opponents to estimate and anticipate in time...
The best way to avoid the punch would be a dip to the outside...
Come to think of it maybe that's why Fedor has been so successfull using it against taller opponents as they are too tall and too slow to dip the punch hence they either get clocked by it or get wrapped up and taken down.