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ASK THE TORCH: Amadi answers reader questions on Fedor and the UFC, challengers to Junior dos Santos
Nov 27, 2011 - 9:35:58 AM ASK THE TORCH: Amadi answers reader questions on Fedor and the UFC, challengers to Junior dos Santos

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By: Jason Amadi, MMATorch Columnist

Brad writes: What do you think the chances are of Fedor entering the UFC?

A: The UFC vs. M-1 Global saga was fun for a while, but ultimately peaked two years ago. At this point, there isn't anywhere near the amount of public outcry for the UFC to sign Fedor Emelianenko.

For Fedor to ever step foot inside the UFC's Octagon, M-1 Global would have to be extremely realistic about what they bring to the table at this point. Recent tweets on their end suggest that we're pretty far from that ever happening.

The idea of the UFC co-promoting with M-1 Global to do a fight between Fedor and Cain Velasquez is patently absurd. Emelianenko's only win in the last two years is a pedestrian decision victory over a shopworn Jeff Monson, while Velasquez just lost the Heavyweight Title on the biggest stage the sport has ever seen in the U.S.

The reality is that Fedor going to Strikeforce was a huge risk that didn't work out for M-1. He went 1-3 in that organization and was humiliated in each of his three defeats. Those losses are still fresh in the minds of MMA fans, and despite what he's done in the sport, it would be weird for the UFC to sign a high profile fighter who's only one fight removed from an awful three fight skid.

With the purchase of Strikeforce, Zuffa now has every quality heavyweight fighter in the world under contract. Emelianenko can either end his career fighting guys like Jeff Monson or sign with the UFC on their terms. Negotiations are now and will forever be in the UFC's favor, and I don't think there's anywhere near enough interest on their side to sign Fedor and deal with M-1 Global.
 

James writes: Who in the division has a chance against Junior dos Santos? And if so, how?

A: Everyone has a chance, but I wouldn't favor anyone to defeat Junior dos Santos right now. His biggest threat is probably still Cain Velasquez, but even in a rematch, I'm not sure what changes. Velasquez would still need to take the fight into the later rounds, and dos Santos still has the power to stop him in 64 seconds.

Brock Lesnar could probably get dos Santos to the ground once or twice, but as soon as JDS starts uncorking hooks and uppercuts, Lesnar would probably just turn tail and run.

Many feel Alistair Overeem's K-1 credentials make him the fighter best equipped to handle “Cigano,” but there's a couple problems with that line of thinking. The first problem is that “K-1 level striking” is massively overrated as it relates to MMA.

As far as his K-1 World Heavyweight Grand Prix victory goes, a lot of things went right for Overeem to win. Remy Bonjasky (who's already beaten him) retired, Badr Hari (who's beaten him) didn't compete, Semmy Schilt was taken out by Peter Aerts and by the time Overeem fought Aerts and Gokhan Saki, they were already injured and exhausted from previous bouts.

However, I would mostly favor JDS because Overeem's style just doesn't match up well. In K-1, Overeem usually presses forward with a tight double-forearm guard, letting his opponents tee off before getting on the inside and clobbering them with a single left hook or a knee. With the 4oz gloves used in MMA, that wouldn't work out so well against a combination puncher with the power of Junior dos Santos. We've seen Overeem knocked out many times in MMA, and against smaller competitors to boot. I just don't see Overeem having much success, but the fight would be a lot of fun to watch either way.

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