Filed under: Strikeforce, News
In the MMA world, Fedor Emelianenko is seemingly part royalty and part deity, even though he doesn’t currently own a major promotional belt and as best as we can tell, he has yet to perform a miracle — although his insta-recovery from the Randleplex from hell back in ’04 may qualify. But because of the aura around Fedor, some fighters are seemingly on the way to beaten before they even step in the cage with him. Here’s what Brett Rogers told SI.com’s Josh Gross about Fedor after he had a chance to stare him down, but before the actual fight.
“I look into his eyes and I see nothing,” he said. “I don’t see if he’s serious. I don’t see if he’s trying to be funny. I can’t sense anything from him. A lot of people say, ‘Don’t pay attention to his demeanor because it will psyche you out.’ It’s true. I feel that.”
Rogers proved to be game on fight night, but was eventually KO’d by Fedor. So will Fabricio Werdum be any different when he faces Fedor during Saturday night’s Strikeforce/M-1 event? He was asked about the Fedor phenomenon and his own mental focus during a recent conference call.
Pre-fight conference calls are generally quite routine affairs. They serve a purpose: getting quotes to reporters to pass on to the fans, but often it’s a lot of words with little meaning. The fighter always has had “the best camp of my life,” is in the “the best shape of his life,” and has plans to win.