Fedor: I never considered myself to be the best

Fedor Emelianenko is by near unanimous agreement the greatest heavyweight in the history of mixed martial arts. edor’s 29-fight streak started on April 6, 2001, and ended on June 26, 2010, for more than nine years. Add four fights and a year if you discount the bogus cut stoppage. And this was in a division so challenging that no UFC heavyweight champion has ever defended his belt successfully more than twice. He has ten wins vs. against fighters who at some point in their careers held major MMA championships. Career wins over Andrei Arlovski, Mark Coleman (twice), Cro Cop, Mark Hunt, Matt Lindland, Big Nog (twice), Kevin Randleman, and Tim Sylvia.

The sole question is, is Fedor the greatest fighter of all time? Emelianenko appeared recently on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, ahead of his fight Saturday night with Matt Mitrione at Bellator NYC. And he said he never considered himself to be the best.

I never considered myself to the best one, said Fedor, as transcribed by Chuck Mindenhall for MMA Fighting. A fighter can lose at any moment. And there are some fighters that, for example, are defending on some position that will be better than me in some technique.

Of every potential G.O.A.T.contender, Fedor is the only one to never fight in the UFC.

We did review the opportunity to fight in the UFC,” he said. “If the UFC wanted me to get in, we could have. We didn’t come to the agreement.

It was always something that wouldn’t work out, and it would go back and forth. If, for example, speaking about Scott Coker, we met together and we discussed a lot of issues. We negotiated, we agreed, and he sent me the contract. Everything was exactly [as stated], and the contract was signed. With the UFC always something would [pop up].

I cannot [relate] myself to the fighters who have very exaggerated and excited reaction hearing the words ‘UFC.’ For me there was always no difference where to perform, in which organization, whether it be the UFC, or Pride, or Strikeforce, or Bellator, the main thing is who is your opponent.

And also you’ve got to have that good relationship and preserve that good relationship with people who work in the organization. So the fighter is the fighter, and he deals with a lot of things. He goes through a lot of paths. His load is a huge one.

I performed against different opponents who were the best fighters of the UFC.

The consensus G.O.A.T. right now is probably Conor McGregor, but over the years, other top contenders have spoken.

In 2008 on Inside MMA, Georges St. Pierre was asked who the best pound for pound fighter in the world was.

Fedor Emelianenko, he replied.

In 2012, then UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos was asked about a poll – IN BRAZIL – that named Fedor as the G.O.A.T.

Fedor is the greatest, commented JDS. No doubt. For me, in a matter of admiration, he is the greatest of all time. He is a heavyweight who beat everybody. He certainly was ‘The Baddest Man on the Planet.’

In 2013 the then ranked P4P #1 UFC fighter Jose Aldo was asked to name the greatest fighters of all time. He named himself #5, and Fedor #1.

There can be debate on whether or not Fedor is the G.O.A.T. But there is no doubt that he is the greatest heavyweight in the sports’ history. And it only makes him cooler that, in a sport fueled by trash talk, he wouldn’t agree.