But as Fedor Emelianenko prepares for his third fight on U.S. soil this weekend against Andrei Arlovski at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” pay-per-view, there are some signs that the consensus No.1 heavyweight in the world is at long last starting to gain some notoriety in our country. Case in point: A lengthy feature in the New York Times this week, which amounted to the biggest and best – if not particularly illuminating – piece of mainstream American journalism on Emelianenko during his eight-year pro career.
The crux of the feature, the first of two unexpected MMA-related stories in two days for the Times, was to contrast the former PRIDE champ’s unparalleled success in the ring with his gentle personality and the relative anonymity he enjoys outside of it. In other words, the same story MMA fans have been hearing about Fedor all along.
And while the Times’ account didn’t provide any startling revelations about “The Last Emperor,” a story in the nation’s largest, most respected newspaper is in itself a major victory. It was also nice to finally get Emelianenko’s somewhat pedestrian life story – in which a poverty-stricken childhood begat trade school which begat a stint in the army and ultimately athletic acclaim – confirmed by a credible source. Even for hardcore MMA fans, Fedor has been something of a mystery throughout his career. The same may well be true in his native Russia where, at least according to the Times, lack of television coverage for MMA leaves Emelianenko without much acclaim.
“Emelianenko is a huge star, on par with (Maria) Sharapova and (Alexander) Ovechkin,” Russian sports journalist Pavel Lysenkov told the newspaper. “But I’m very surprised that in Russia very few people know him.”
“It would just be nice if ordinary people knew more about him,” manager Vadim Finkelshtein added. “It is somewhat insulting, because he is nevertheless a national hero.”
Emelianenko’s low profile in the U.S. is at least partially of his own choosing. After PRIDE collapsed in early 2007, the 28-1 fighter (and Finkelshtein) proved unable to come to terms on an agreement with the UFC that would no doubt have greatly increased his recognition with the American public. Instead, Emelianenko suffered through a long period of inactivity while he bounced between smaller organizations before finally settling on the fledgling Affliction company.
While the T-shirt-merchant-turned-fight-promoter has had to be chiefly concerned with keeping its own head above water and heading off a flurry of underhanded challenges from the UFC, it has also hasn’t thus far shown much aptitude for promoting Fedor. Affliction has excelled, at times, in producing slick video packages to plug its product, but almost systematically refuses to play to its own strengths (i.e. solid matchmaking) and hasn’t yet found a way to properly shine the spotlight on the soft-spoken Russian. The company has also demonstrated almost unforgivably poor news judgment at almost every turn leading up to this weekend’s event – scheduling the prefight press conference for “Day of Reckoning” directly opposite Barack Obama’s inauguration, for example.
In fact, most of the effective hype for “DoR” has come from Arlovski, whose camp produced a series of professional-quality Internet video vignettes saying the former UFC champ is just the man to finally put a dent in Emelianenko’s armor. Trainer Freddie Roach has also been very outspoken in critiquing Fedor’s stand-up game and – while showing a complete lack of understanding of MMA – claiming that if Emelianenko is willing “stand and fight them like a man,” Arlovski will win without breaking a sweat.
Easier said than done, Freddie.
Still, the fact remains that the Belarusian “Pit Bull” may amount to the most serious threat to Fedor’s dominance since his series of bouts with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2003-04. Of course, we said exactly the same thing just before Emelianenko toppled former UFC champ Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds at Affliction’s debut PPV last July. If he does the same to Arlovski, it will be difficult for even his most strident critics to deny that he is the best fighter the young sport has yet produced.
Right now, the million dollar question for Fedor – and for Affliction – is not only whether or not he’ll beat Arlovski, but also if America will show up to watch.
Chad Dundas writes a weekly mixed martial arts column for CraveOnline. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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