Freddie Roach Not Impressed With Fedor's Striking
By Brian Furby, FightTicker.com blogger
In a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Freddie Roach, one of the world's most sought-after boxing trainers, stated that he is not impressed by current WAMMA Heavyweight champion and FightTicker.com's # 1 ranked Heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko's striking. In speaking to SI's Josh Gross, Roach stated that he thinks Fedor's lack of technique in his striking will help Arlovski give Fedor his first MMA loss in over eight years. From the article:
If Fedor Emelianenko is pressured backwards, if he's attacked down the middle with straight punches and if footwork opens angles for counters, Freddie Roach believes he'll have done all he can to help engineer the Russian's first defeat in a mixed martial arts fight in more than eight years.
History suggests boxing won't be the only factor deciding the Jan. 24 heavyweight WAMMA championship fight in Anaheim, Calif., but both Roach and Andrei Arlovski feel something most fighters usually don't a month out from challenging Emelianenko: they've got advantages.
Roach's no-frills assessment of Emelianenko's boxing -- shaped after watching all the film he could get on the unassuming 32-year-old, who's dominated heavyweights since the millennium -- paints a picture of a sloppy, ill-equipped striker made dangerous by the gift of a monster right.
I don't think anyone would dispute that Freddie Roach is an authority on striking. If he sees holes in Fedor's game, I think he will be able to engineer a plan to capitalize on those holes. However, we all know that there is much more to MMA than just striking, and the majority of Fedor's win have come via submission (15 of 28, according to Sherdog.com.)
In spite of all this, I'll be interested to see what Arlovski can do against Fedor. However, whether or not Arlovski can get the win largely depends on who shows up: The Pitbull, or plain ole Andrei. Sure, plain ole Andrei is tough, but he doesn't have the ferocity of The Pitbull, and Arlovski needs every edge he can get against Fedor. In the article, Roach appropriately commented that, "[Fedor is] like Mike Tyson. A lot of guys are scared of him. So the mental game is so important that you can't be scared. You have to be fearless against him."
I think this is very true -- Fedor hasn't had a truly competitive MMA match in such a long time that a lot of guys are scared of him. This is why Fedor's recent Sambo loss was important for a lot of other heavyweights. Even though it was Sambo and not MMA, it showed that Fedor is still human, and can still be beaten.
I think this is a tough fight to call, but Arlovski's previous work with Roach seems to have paid off, so I'm interested to see how it works for him in this match.
-PreView
(For the original story, head over to SI.com)
Comments
"Fedor I was not impressed
"Fedor I was not impressed with your performance"
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This is not a boxing
This is not a boxing match... Fedor W via broken orbital socket due to gnp
In MMA I understand that any
In MMA I understand that any half way evenly matched up opponent can pull off an upset, but here are a lot of guys that I believe that Fedor has beat that are better than Arlovski is when he fought them.
Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira x 2
Semmy Schilt better stand up
Mark Hunt better stand up
Ricardo Arona could be argued as well
EERS_1_Fan
Both kids are back into wrestling and will be trying their best for state championships.
Chonan submitted Anderson
Chonan submitted Anderson Silva
Serra KO'd GSP
hell - Mir just shocked everyone by upsetting Nog...
AA has the tools to pull off the upset, but I doubt it happens.
Although... the last two UFC events I picked Randy and then Nog... so what the hell do I know.
Boxing to me is the most
Boxing to me is the most overrated form used in MMA. Tim Sylvia boxed and had better "stand up" than Fedor and we see were that got him. Randy Couture has way better boxing than Brock Lesnar and he got beat down. Andrei has the best chance out of everyone who has faced Fedor because of his athleticism and movement because he may be the fastest HW. But boxing won't matter one bit if they clinch because Fedor gets Andrei in a clinch it will be over. Also both being Sambo guys I wonder what will happen when/if they go to the ground. Neither fighter has ever been submitted in MMA, and Fedor's loss in a Sambo may give Andrei aome confidence in that area. But the movements used in boxing sometimes leave you open to some situations (like Fedor's clinch) you don't want to be in.
Wardog
And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge,
With Ate by his side come hot from hell,
Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice
Cry 'Havoc,' and let slip the dogs of war;
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