When do you think Fedor Emelianenko should've retired?

[OLD RED]

Well,he didnt want to fight anymore,when he retired the first time. Dana actually wanted to make the Brock and Fedor fight at some point and both guys declined at that time during Fedor's first retirement.


Fedor came back after some yrs because he needed the money,and he really was far from what he used to be by then.

Apparently he still needs the money,trying to get boxing fights after retiring from MMA, and its really sad.

Fedor made close to 10M in just 7 fights in Bellator and had no ties to Vadim or any leeches by that point of his career.

I don't think he NEEDS the money I just think he realizes there will be a point when he really won't be able to do this anymore. So he's going to throw down a couple more times and make a couple more bags.

 

[Prex32]

he clearly struggled against arlovski already, then came the rogers fight, which should've been his last
writing was on the wall

 

[Fioretti]

I think he had it right when he retired the first time, after beating Pedro Rizzo, which isn't an option in the poll for some reason.

He was almost 36 and won 3 in a row after dropping 3 in a row. A bit of redemption for his pride, and a reasonable send-off before the declines hit too hard.

 

[Belaya Smert]

Pretty much when the sweater of ultimate victory was tarnished the first time.

 

[Goutfather]

i think he shoulda retired after arlovski. he had already been on top for a long time, and the signs of decline were there. he had nothing to prove (or gain) from fighting the majority of strikeforce’s roster. i was saddened, but not surprised when he lost to werdum, the way he did. there was a sense that he was invincible, but if you saw his fights, you saw how close he often came to losing. it was a matter of time.

if the overeem fight materialized, he shoulda retired after that one, because he probably could have won.

 

[moreorless87]

Fedor made close to 10M in just 7 fights in Bellator and had no ties to Vadim or any leeches by that point of his career.

I don't think he NEEDS the money I just think he realizes there will be a point when he really won't be able to do this anymore. So he's going to throw down a couple more times and make a couple more bags.

Things point to him doing very well out of the Vadim deal besides his stake in M-1 likely not being worth that much but I do kind of whether whether his mid 2010's inactivity was party waiting out the M-1 contract because they couldn't afford to pay him anymore as the co promotion in the US has dried up, thats really were the money for his M-1 deal was always coming from, other promoters like FEG, Affliction and Strikeforce.

 

[DS]

He should have realized after the Rogers fight, that it was an unbelievable poor performance, and he needed to either retire or go back to the drawing board and take fighting serious again.

Instead it took him a couple poor performance wins and 3 straight losses in a row to basically knock some sense into him, that God's Will wasn't the reason he was winning fights. He made the decision to keep fighting and focus on his preparation.

Ended up looking like the old Fedor in 3 tune up fight wins in 8 months. That Fedor would have murdered Rogers. Of course then he retires.

Hindsight, think he should have kept going after Rizzo, and retired 2-3 years later for good. Should have had rematches with Werdum and Bigfoot, with few other big fights. Henderson rematch don't think would be possible, Fedor at his best comes in at 235-240, that first match should have never happened.

But the guy really messed up the end of his career, and we all missed out on some good fights because of it.

 

[JBJ was here]

After Affliction folded. His choices then were either third rate organizations or UFC/Strikeforce which had both pts passed him by.

 

[AmonTobin]

How I remember it is shaking my head when he lost to Werdum. I didn't think he would have made such mistakes in his best days. Then again to Silva. Henderson was the final straw. It was clear at that point he had done everything he could possibly do in the sport. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Bader or Mitrione were worthy of fighting him and claiming a "Fedor win".

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

Probably Tim Sylvia. He still looked invincible. Even though the Rodgers KO was epic, he took a lot of damage in that fight and didn’t look himself any more.

Despite the losses at the end, he didn’t Anderson Silva himself and had a solid record, a brief winning streak and some solid finishes.

 

[cmw43]

People are using hindsight to vote that he should've retired right before his winning streak ended. That's highly unlikely, why would he ever have done that?

In terms of realistic decision making not based on hindsight the right time to retire would've been the Monson fight.

His coaches were saying he should retire going into the Arlovski fight.

He'd stopped his kettlebell training, abandoned his grappling and his coaches were saying he was slowing down, headhunting and leaving it all in "Gods Hands" as he'd got really religious around that time.

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

His coaches were saying he should retire going into the Arlovski fight.

He'd stopped his kettlebell training, abandoned his grappling and his coaches were saying he was slowing down, headhunting and leaving it all in "Gods Hands" as he'd got really religious around that time.

Fedor turned into a head hunter/brawler. He never fought like that in PRIDE. The meme was “Fedor by arm bar” but after Sylvia, it was nothing but KOs.

He either fell in love with the KO or maybe felt he couldn’t compete in grappling anymore. We got a brief glimpse of it in the Chael fight and it was awesome but he was sucking wind after.

I clearly remember his coaches saying Fedor essentially got lucky in the Rodger’s fight and his old tricks worked again. They really weren’t happy with his new style.

 

[OLD RED]

Fedor turned into a head hunter/brawler. He never fought like that in PRIDE. The meme was “Fedor by arm bar” but after Sylvia, it was nothing but KOs.

He either fell in love with the KO or maybe felt he couldn’t compete in grappling anymore. We got a brief glimpse of it in the Chael fight and it was awesome but he was sucking wind after.

I clearly remember his coaches saying Fedor essentially got lucky in the Rodger’s fight and his old tricks worked again. They really weren’t happy with his new style.

Injuries change the way a fighter approaches fights. The same way a pitcher starts his career throwing 100mph and gets injured and has to get Tommy John surgery and has to adjust his pitching style when he comes back because he can no longer generate the same kind of velocity.

Fedor started chasing the knockout because he thought it would allow him to take less damage and and if he fought this way he wouldnt have to rely on his grappling and cardio which had badly diminished by then due to injuries. This didn't work out well for him but I understand his thesis behind fighting this way. DC ran into the same problem later in his career.

He was a machine from 2002-2005. By 2007 he already looked slower, less sharp and less hungry. The Hunt, Choi, Arlovski and Rogers fights were good signs of this. At the time we didn't want to believe it because he was still winning fights but the way he was pulling wins out of his ass was a sign that mixed results were coming.

The loss to Henderson was where it was a certainty that he had lost his edge as a fighter and champion. He was still good but it was clear that it would be mixed results from here on for the GOAT. By this point he was maybe 50% of what he was at his peak. By the time he was in Bellator he was like 20% of what he was at his peak.

 

[Psychojoe86]

Would have been best to retire right after he lost to Fabricio Werdum.

We would have the answer of how many could he win before he finally tasted defeat. An epic moment in mma history. In addition, he would have avoided the bitter losses against Big Foot and Hendo.

 

[krelianx]

I think after the Henderson loss it was clear something was no longer the same. The Werdum and Bigfoot losses were avengable. But once he lost to the much smaller and older Henderson, it was clear spring was over.

 

[OLD RED]

I think after the Henderson loss it was clear something was no longer the same. The Werdum and Bigfoot losses were avengable. But once he lost to the much smaller and older Henderson, it was clear spring was over.

Fighting a peaking Dan Hendo just 5 months after taking brain damage from Bigfoot was a bad idea.

Look at how that worked out for Wand fighting Hendo after getting knocked out by Mirko just a few months before that.

Look how that worked out for Volk fighting Ilia just 4 months after getting knocked out by Islam.

Fedor should have taken a year off after the Bigfoot loss. Just like Kelvin Kattar took a year off after taking a beating from Max.

These things matter.

 

[moreorless87]

He should have realized after the Rogers fight, that it was an unbelievable poor performance, and he needed to either retire or go back to the drawing board and take fighting serious again.

Instead it took him a couple poor performance wins and 3 straight losses in a row to basically knock some sense into him, that God's Will wasn't the reason he was winning fights. He made the decision to keep fighting and focus on his preparation.

To be fair I think striking wise the Rogers match was still pretty strong, it was the grappling which showed significant decline and ultimately thats what resulted in the following loses.

After those loses again I do think he looked a bit better, as much as thing he seemed more realistic as to what his current strengths were focusing mostly on standup and landing big shots. I do think at that stage he could potentially have still been competitive at the top level had he fought there.

 

[DS]

To be fair I think striking wise the Rogers match was still pretty strong, it was the grappling which showed significant decline and ultimately thats what resulted in the following loses.

After those loses again I do think he looked a bit better, as much as thing he seemed more realistic as to what his current strengths were focusing mostly on standup and landing big shots. I do think at that stage he could potentially have still been competitive at the top level had he fought there.

Agreed, his striking was still top notch, although his training and mindset were not there for the Rogers fight. Actually, his training and mindset continued to get worse and worse right up to Henderson. When he started to get his training and mindset right with the Monson fight, he looked like a completely different fighter from his recent bouts.

Watch the 3 losses, and then the 3 wins afterwards to his first retirement. In the 3 losses, he bull rushes, throws recklessly, basically just going for the KO, and he does it being in his worst shape of his career. In the next 3, you first can tell 100% he's in better shape, that's a given, but watch how he fights too, he's methodical, complete opposite as before.

The difference between the Werdum and Monson fight is ridiculous. Werdum the more dangerous opponent on the ground, he dives right into his triangle choke. Monson, a good ground guy himself, but not of the caliber of Werdum, says no we're not doing that, and kicks the shit out of him upright instead. Why, because he was fighting and training smart again.

As far as his grappling goes, we will never know. He fought 3 tune up fighters in his wins that were never able to challenge him to use it, and it's a damn shame. He worked himself back to greatness if you ask me, and then decided to retire stupidly. Only to come back in 2015 washed up fighting bums, when 2015 should of been his true retirement after fighting the best fighters and probably winning during those years. It's sad to think about.

 

[Airmanik]

Somewhere around 2008. He lost his drive, part of motivation and focus around that time. When he was interview during these times, he didn't even had a clear goal.