By Bryan Levick, FightTicker.com Contributor

I have to admit that I was thoroughly impressed with Fedor Emelianenko’s performance Saturday night. While I have never been a huge Tim Sylvia fan I can admit that he has faced some of the toughest heavyweights in the world and had his fair share of success. That being said, watching Fedor completely dismantle a man 8” taller and some 30 pounds heavier was quite impressive. I have been riding the anti-Fedor train for a long time now. I am ashamed to admit that I have lambasted him for fighting stiffs such as Hong Man Choi and for what I perceived as ducking top notch competition. Until he fought Sylvia his last top 10 opponent was Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic back in 2005. I along with many others had trouble ranking him as number one pound-for-pound or number one in the heavyweight division for that matter.

I was wrong. Maybe he was poorly managed or maybe he was just waiting for the opportunities presented by a company such as Affliction, an opportunity to fight other great fighters while still being able to compete in the Sambo tournaments he loves. When you are as good as Fedor is you have the right to negotiate contracts on your terms and he only enhanced his value Saturday night.

This leads us to ask, what’s next? The obvious answer is a fight with Randy Couture. Everything Randy has done in the past year has been with the idea to fight Fedor, in what would be the biggest MMA fight to date. Will this happen? Your guess is as good as mine. Affliction is certainly banking on it, especially bringing Randy into the ring after the Fedor-Sylvia fight. The UFC is going to do everything in its power to ensure this doesn’t happen or that if this fight takes place, that it takes place inside an Octagon.

Time is not on Randy’s side and I know all about his heroics and that I should never count him out. However, we have to be realistic here: the man is 44-years-old and he would be facing a man who technically has never been defeated, a man with such awesome skills that he makes everyone else look like children when they are in the ring with him. This fight has to happen this year and I've read that Affliction is looking to have another event in November with Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski and hopefully Fedor on the card. Will this be the card where we finally get to see the "Natural and Fedor" go toe-to-toe? Time will only tell.

Interestingly enough, the fight I would actually like to see the most is Fedor vs. Arlovski. I really liked the way Arlovski performed Saturday night. He fought a very tough, very game and very competitive Ben Rothwell. This is the Arlovski I have heard about but have rarely seen the past few years. An aggressive fighter who isn’t hesitant to engage could be a great opponent for Fedor. I don’t want to hear about Arlovski's losses to Sylvia -- this is a different fighter from the one we've seen the last few years. Arlovski still has a certain aura about him; he can be very intimidating with his wild hair and beard to go along with his fang mouthpiece. I know that Fedor is not going to be intimidated by any of that but it would certainly add flair to the match-up. Throw in the fact that they are both from the same part of the world and you have an intriguing match-up.

Last but not least is Fedor vs. Barnett. Why this fight never happened in Pride I am not sure, but it almost makes too much sense for it not to happen. You have two guys in their prime who are both ranked in most people’s top five heavyweights and have fought similar opponents. They have both fought "Big Nog", Mark Hunt and "Cro Cop" and Barnett owns a victory over Fedor’s brother Aleksander. While Barnett didn’t look all that impressive against Pedro Rizzo Saturday night, he did wind up knocking him out in the second round. Barnett utilizes a base of wrestling and has very good submissions. He is very strong and would pose quite a challenge for Fedor. Barnett is also very good at selling himself and the fights that he is in so give him points from a marketing standpoint as well. Lest we not forget, Barnett owns a victory over Couture from their UFC days and is a former UFC heavyweight champ. All that adds a bit of intrigue to the match-up as well.

So there you have it, three more-than-qualified opponents for Fedor. Now that I've offered you my thoughts, I want to hear from you. Click on the link below and vote on you choice for Fedor's next opponent. I want to know not only who you want to see him fight next but who do you think will offer the best chance at dethroning "The Last Emperor."

Click here to vote for Fedor's next opponent.

(Photo of Fedor Emelianenko courtesy of Affliction Web site.)