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Getbig Misc Discussion Boards => Mixed Martial Arts (MMA/UFC) => Topic started by: Dreadlord on January 27, 2009, 12:55:02 AM
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The best trainers, like the best fighters, are never satisfied with a performance less than perfection. In MMA, it’s a hopeless pursuit – there are too many variables to subtract from even the most highly trained athlete’s showing.
That doesn't mean they don't push, scream, and beg fighters towards that end.
Fedor Emelianenko is the consensus top heavyweight in the world, and with that title comes the expectation that his skills are a combination of talent and the best preparation in the world.
But Emelianenko’s performance at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” drew a mixture of gushing praise and caution. While it was undisputable that the fight’s end – shooting challenger Andrei Arlovski out of the sky with a right hand – proved his dominance, the preceding three minutes were not the brilliance normally associated with the champ.
And according to one of his trainers, Vladimir Voronov, who spoke to MMAWeekly.com and SI.com about Saturday’s rout, Emelianenko was not prepared to his satisfaction.
“I said, 'Fedor, are we going to film this movie?’" said Voronov backstage at the conclusion of “Reckoning.” “(He said) ‘No, I’m not going to film this movie, I’m gonna work.’"
Emelianenko did the opposite, filming an action movie in Thailand with Rutger Hauer and Michael Madsen. Between takes, he trained. The real camp, away from the soundstage, was just 30 days long.
“If he wants to keep winning, he can’t be spending too much time on these commercials and these movies,” complained Voronoz. “Afterwards, after the win. For a fighter, the most important thing is work, work, work. Fedor wants to keep winning, and keep winning well. He needs to train professionally.”
Voronov had a blunt assessment of the overhand right that won the fight. Emelianenko prevailed because of his natural talent and a wealth of experience against top competition. Voronov was also well aware of Arlovski’s vulnerabilities, which he tried to impart to his student.
“Arlovski is of a Slavic heart, and a Slavic soul,” Voronov explained. “Arlovski decided to (expletive) everything and go forward, and that’s why he paid.”
Emelianenko will not be so lucky against his apparent next opponent, Josh Barnett.
“Barnett is of a different soul,” he continued. “If Arlovski is a master in chess, then Barnett is a grandmaster.
“The fact that Fedor won, don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy. But he won this fight because of the work he did before training that he did before this fight, because of the experience he had before this fight.”
Happy would be best way to describe Emelianenko’s dressing room post-fight. His supporters crammed the room, toasting the champion repeatedly with Russian water, or vodka, as the room fogged with body heat. Emelianenko himself abstained from the indulgence, and shortly thereafter left for a sit-down dinner at an upscale restaurant in Anaheim, Calif.
But there was a tangible feeling from Voronov that his fighter had dodged a bullet.
“Right now, he won with his old baggage, with his old tricks,” he said. “We did everything we can to get him ready for this fight. But for these title fights, for these dangerous fights, we can’t train the way we trained for this fight.”