Fedor beat three K-1 World Champions (Cro Cop, Semmy Schilt, Hunt) Fedor beat two ADCC World Champions (Jeff Monson & Ricardo Arona) Fedor beat two Judo World Champions (Satoshi Ishii & Naoya Ogawa) Fedor beat eight UFC champions (Nog, Randleman, Coleman, Arlovski, Sylvia, Rampage, Rizzo, Mir) Of those UFC champions, he beat two of them twice. Fedor has proved that he can stand in front of either the best kickboxers of all time, the best grapplers of all time, and the best MMA fighters of all time and he will still beat them. He is simply the greatest ever.

Kevin Randleman suplexing Fedor to the depths of hell and somehow Fedor acted like that never happened and turns around and submits Kevin 30 seconds after was inhuman.

Fedor jumping into Big Nog's guard and bouncing his head like a basketball was the most gangsta thing I've ever seen in MMA.

I’ve always considered Fedor the most amazing heavyweight I’ve ever seen. It’s hard when the new era MMA fans don’t know what it was like to watch his cold emotionless demeanor as he dismantled every kind of fighter you can imagine ! Thanks Unc Chael

Fedor is The Greatest. Of All Time.

What sets Fedor apart from other GOATs is that Fedor is/was willing to fight his opponents where they were the strongest -> standup fight with Mirko, fighting in the guard with Big Nog etc. This might not be the wisest thing to do but for sure it’s much more entertaining than playing it safe and strategically. Win or lose…I can’t think of any boring Fedor fight. Fedor always had the aim of finishing his opponents.

Thank you Chael for appreciating Fedor’s greatness

In his prime, Fedor out-struck CroCop and out-grappled Big Nog while they were at their best. 'Nuff said.

Fedor was straight up savage. From Kevin Randleman suplexing him on his head yet submitting him 30 secs later, to almost getting dropped by the monster Brett Rogers and coming back to finish him. He was NEVER EVER truly out of it in his first 30+ fights. G.O.A.T of every division. Every promotion.

Fedor is indisputably the GOAT - he was very undersized in the heaviest and most dangerous weight class; he knocked around 30 people out cold, was undefeated in his prime for close to 10 years; and now at age 45 still can fight competitively with top 10 ranked heavyweights.

PRIDE was different as there was the Grand Prix, Bushido events and non-title fights (like the rematch against Kohsaka). He fought Nogueira 3x and beat Nogueira when he was the #1 P4P fighter in the world and now is in the hall of fame, Cro Cop in his prime (#2 HW in the World), Mark Coleman (UFC Hall of Famer), Randleman (UFC Hall of Famer, Fedor almost got killed with the suplex), Heath Herring (top five at that moment), Semmy Schilt (Top 10 at that moment), Mark Hunt (Top 10 or 5 at that moment [had recently beaten Cro Cop]), Arona and Babalu in Rings (Arona beat Wanderlei in his prime when Wanderlei was #1 in the world and is a 3 time ADCC champion, and Babalu fought twice for the UFC LHW belt and was Strikeforce LHW champion), Tim Sylvia (UFC champion, top 5 HW when he fought Fedor), Arlovski (UFC champion, top 2 HW when he fought Fedor), recently beat Mir (UFC champion). Fedor cleaned the top PRIDE and UFC HW division of his era.

And Fedor dominated at a time with far less rules. You could soccer kick, head stomp, knee downed opponents to the head. It's when he came over to Strikeforce with the new rules when he lost the 3 straight fights. . But now he's won 9 of his last 11. He learned how to fight with stricter rules. but he dominated at a time with very few rules. much more difficult

Fedor in his prime would smoke any human being no matter.

Fedor MMA facts: 1. 47 pro fights with a 40-6-1 record. 2. Holds the 2nd best win streak in all of MMA, 27 but would be 31 or 32-0 if you take away the DSQ from the stupid stoppage from a cut. 3. Defeated 7 UFC champions 9 times, 4 K1 Champions, 2 silver, 1 gold Olympic medalists and 2 ADCC champions. 4. 29 victories in the first round. 5. 15 wins under 2 minutes and 5 wins under 1 minute. 6. 16 Knockouts / 15 Subs. 7. Rings Champ, Pride HW & Grand Prix Champ, WAMMA Champ. If you have Fight Pass, go watch Fedor's run in Pride and you'll understand exactly why he's so admired among fighters and fans. People who don't know criticize that he fought cans. He fought SOME cans but he beat the fuckin' piss out of them like you'd expect him to. He also fought and beat the very best of his era in their prime as Pride had the best HW roster from 2000-2006. 2009-2011 he dealt with some injuries, family issues and I think fighters just caught up to him, but everyone goes through that at some point. Never had a boring fight. Always humble in victory and defeat. The HW GOAT.

To anyone question Fedor: name a fighter who has over 40 or even 30 fights without double digit losses. Or a hit list of Hall of Famers like his.

Remember Fedor never had wasted movement/strikes. Everything he did was either to finish or to set up a finish.

Chael is so humble to not consider himself the GOAT.

Not only that Fedor's first loss was due to a cut, but that cut wasn't from a punch, it was from a part of the glove that grazed him. In addition, it was Fedor's second fight of the night, so his skin was already damaged.

Remember the time Chael almost choked the life out of Fedor? Then he remembered the last wish of a dying kid with cancer that he wanted to see a somerault live on TV so Chael did that. Fedor breathed a sigh of relief. Good guy Chael.

Crocop was a machine but Fedor was the terminator!

Watching Fedor fight felt like reading Dostojevsky.

Fedor defeated the most UFC champions and he was never even in the UFC....

I've long since considered Fedor as the GOAT. Dude was superhuman in his prime.

Fedor by far set the standard for modern MMA. He was the very first most complete fighter when it came to his skill set that anyone ever saw in an MMA ring. On top of that, he had a poker face made from pure iron. You never knew he was hurt unless he was literally knocked out. In his prime, he was the T-1000 of MMA.

Fedor's style and power is a puzzle even modern HWs would struggle to deal with.

One of the most impressive things I saw from Fedor was that suplex Kevin Randellman did to him and Fedor still won was pretty epic for that weight class..

Fedor’s speed of transition from one phase to the next (striking to wrestling to grappling) is still the fastest I have ever seen. Zero hesitation between punching to takedown to ground. Thats offense..his defensive transition speed was equally as fast.

A couple of other things also made Fedor great. He was always calm. His first real loss was when he got excited and rushed in an got caught in a submission. Before that he always stayed calm and stayed in control of the fight. The other thing was that he may not have been the best at any one aspect of fighting, he was great at everything. If he couldn’t beat someone striking, he could beat them in the ground, and vice versa. And finally, I can’t think of another fighter who has been as seamless in transitioning between striking, grappling, and striking again. Even people who are world class have a half second where their brain is switching from one mode to the other. For him, it was all one thing.

Fedor is MMA's GOAT!!!!! The GOAT talking about the GOAT is so refreshing:)

Fedor has/Had fastest submission game.. guys for a heavyweight That was astonishing

Fedor would hip tossing and boxing up everyone

Fedor is the heavyweight GOAT period.

Prime Fedor was just something else, Jon Jones is a beast, he looks unbeattable, but prime fedor was like fighting god himself, i remember seing him the first time thinking ''he looks like the average daddy with a beer belly, not even in shape'' but the guy was so wild with his punches, and so powerful, a true russian savage

Agree with you Chael. Fedor was special.

Honestly, which modern HW has a skillset as well-rounded as Emelianenko with his wrestling, grappling and striking¿ Even the highly touted Velasquez and Cormier only have wrestling and reasonably good striking, but not really a noteworthy submission game. HW hasn't nearly evolved as the lighter weight classes. To this day, you still have one-dimensional brute force sluggers like Derrick Lewis in title contention and DC thought an Emelianenko back then couldn't be up there in the mix¿

Fedor was the most exciting fighter and no other made me so eager to see him fight. He had a level of dominance that is still unmatched. I always thought he never pushed his body to limits like dropping weight, adding pounds of muscle and stuff like that. His body was always in complete tune and all his strength was pure unfiltered strength with skill to match.

Fedor would’ve absolutely ran through the heavyweight division if he’d fought in the UFC. He’s one of the greatest ever in the sport and certainly the greatest to never fight in the UFC.

100% agree, Chael. Respect. From the man who has been in the cage with him to know, you see what I'm seeing. Fedor was special. And he was what got me into MMA. From the days when big Nog seemed unbeatable. Hats off to you, Chael.

It's admirable how Chael's opinion of Fedor changed after her faced him. Many people wouldn't have the character to admit they were mistaken. Kudos. I am a bit biased being a Fedor fan but it is greatly appreciated. Fedor never fought safe. Was almost always the much smaller guy and still came out on top.

People forget that back then the best Heavyweights were not in the UFC. And Fedor dealt with them. I'm a boxing guy but Fedor was one one of the very first athletes/fighters i idolised, and he made me an MMA fan. What a legend.

Fedor would beat them all. Then cut to LHW and beat them all. Then cut to MW but retire in order to avoid then champion Chael P. Sonnen, that had recently won the belt via unanimous decision having only lost the 5th round via triangle choke.

Time catches up with everyone. Fedor in his prime time was a sight to behold. Cormier is nuts. Pride had better HWs then the UFC back in the early to mid 2000s.

We have to also remember that Fedor in his "first loss" the cut was caused by an illegal headbutt by Kohsaka. So in reality the fight should have either been a disqualification for Kohsaka or a non-contest. The only reason Fedor was given a loss was because it was a tournament and there had to be a winner.

Thank you Chael Sonnen for your honest opinion. Fedor is the greatest. And you are right he would beat them all!

We all know The Chael is the best Heavyweight of all time, he is undefeated at Heavyweight 💪

Fedor is the best fighter of our time

I could listen to Chael talk about Fedor all day.

Chael Sonnen did beat them all… 49-0, first and only triple division champion.

People who werent there in the beginning. People who didnt watch the pride pay per views, will never understand how amazing and special guys like Fedor and Mirko truly were.

Anyone that watched prime Emelianenko understands how great he was. No matter size or style he dominated them all.

Fedor was an animal. In HW, you're lucky to win 3 straight. These guys hit a lot harder and one hit could be it. Fedor was so skilled in everything. He was stomping the top of the world back then and would have in his prime today. Make no mistake. He IS the HW GOAT.

He was so devastatingly explosive, not just in the way he would launch a punch but how he would launch a hip toss or spring into a submission. He was absolutely devastating in a way I've not seen all around before.

The expression of Cro Cop just a second after their fight is all you have to check before saying anything else about Fedor..and Cro Cop at the time was a INDESTRUCTIBLE BEAST!

Thank you Chael for sharing your experience and knowledge. Fedor was incredible to watch. He was so dominant while being absolutely fearless with the highest level of sportsmanship and respect for the opponent.

I never knew about Fedor vs. Cro Cop 2...thanks for the information Chael.

This is the truth. I've never seen a Heavyweight as fast and explosive as Fedor. Till' this very day.

Fedor in his prime...I literally can't think of a single heavyweight that I would pick over him. He didn't fight in the UFC, but he 100% fought UFC fighters and UFC Champs...beat them all. Brock Lesnar (I can't believe I'm saying this) would be closest in my opinion simply based on strength and athleticism. Brock could wrestle and his strength and speed could create problems for fedors style, but he didn't have a fraction of the skills. I remember watching him early on and thinking he was one of those humans who found their true calling, like those 6 year olds writing symphonies, he was doing what he was intended to do. Most of us never find that true gift if we have one at all. Francis could certainly have a punchers chance, but Fedor had a iron chin back then. Now, I can name a good number of fighters that could take him out. His chin is nonexistent these days. Breath on him and he's ko. It's a bit sad to watch sometimes, a legend falling right before our eyes. So glad he got the W last weekend.

It sure was a pretty cool move for Bellator to live stream the Tim Johnson fight card.

Fedor is a joy to watch. It just looks so effortless he's like the Messi of MMA. He's just born with a talent and IQ that is off the charts. It shows how important an attribute intelligence is in fighting. Once Fedor tagged someone that was it, relentless pressure till he gets the finish. His game was in explosive bursts that were impossible to defend, he just never got tired. There hasn't been a more complete heavyweight since if that's even possible, I'd say the closest is Tom aspinal. He has it all, he just hasn't had enough fights yet to see if he can put the skills into wins. Prime Fedor demolishes the entire UFC roster no problem

I cried tears of joy listening to that last sentence.

Chael really impressed me with his insight. I'm a huge Fedor fan .and I never really thought of how relentless he was.... He absolutely would put constant pressure on... Always moving forward. And fighters just couldn't adjust... It's almost as if they were distracted by the pressure and couldn't really focus on their game plan that was formulated during their training camp that they were supposed to institute into the bout. Fador just took their plan and just threw it out the window always moving forward always moving forward bombs dropping.

I agree with Chael, I'm happy to see the respect for the legend that was Fedor Emelianenko. I too believe he would have had a few bigger challenges with skill depth of the UFC HW Div. However like Chael said, he's fought a lot of these guys who would go on to headline UFC cards.

Thank you Chael for clearing this out

First time listening Chael. Great talk, enjoyed it. Always been a fan of your fighting, but now a fan of hearing your thoughts.

Regardless of any debate, Fedor will always be one of my favorite fighters and biggest heroes. Someone I will admire and look to for strength and inspiration for all my life. Thank you for everything Fedor!!!!!

"they disqualified Jon for cheating" Undisputed, undefeated.

Great insights my man, Chael!

Uncle keeping it real as f#@#! That’s why we respect you!

This is the first video I’ve seen where Chael crossed his legs without using his arms. Unbelievable!

When Chael is right, he's right!

Awesome upload.

Chael love the videos man

Chael "weaponize pace" Sonnen

Cormier wouldn’t last 1 round with Fedor in his prime. It’s comical Daniel would make such a ludicrous statement. Fedor will never be duplicated. His mind was savagery and watching him stalk his opponent in the ring was scary. I’d be terrified to be looking into that “stare”

Well done mr.sonnen ,all nice explained.

Thank you Chael

FEDOR would’ve beaten everyone except you Chael! GOAT 🐐 undefeated and undisputed champ!

I always love fedor vs Brett Rogers. I know Rogers was very green but he was smoking fedor and then charged in to attack and fedor threw a monster right hand at the last second and kod him flat.

Thank you Chael, I love you for saying that

Love Fedor's stuff, especially how one thing flows to the other

Who else is knocking out a serious dangerous mix martial artist at the age of 45??? NO ONE FEDOR IS THE GOAT

Just watch him piece up and submit Tim Sylvia in :36 seconds. That’s Indicative of what prime fedor would’ve done to everybody else. No other heavyweight had, or has the combination of technical skill, killer instinct, uncanny balance, flexibility, speed, power, durability and endurance as fedor. Continually outgrappling bjj blackbelts, top national, or Olympic level wrestlers and judokas. Devastating ground and pound. Watch his highlight videos and listen to commentary from other fighters. He’s a fighters fighter. Calm, cool, never talks smack, or disrespect. Osu.

2nd time here in a number of days. Just have to congratulate Chael on his spot-on breakdown of the Why Fedor needs to seriously be considered the GOAT. Excellent summation and reasoning.

This is the most insightful opinion piece about the great Fedor that I’ve witnessed. Thank you Chael

Fedor was incredible. Strength, stamina and speed. The pressure he could maintain during fights made him look literally like a machine, a true terminator the keeps coming and coming until the job is done.

Cmon Chael. With your record for predictions we'd be looking at a 0-35+ fedor....

Great Reasoning Chael! Kudos for being in the ring a.o. with Silva, Jones and the GOAT Fedor and still looking so good!

Awesome...let me tell you how it would be... great insight from Don Papi... 👍🏾

The 31 and 1 fedor loss reminds me of when Vitor Belfort won the light heavyweight belt for five minutes that one time

Fedor to this day blends striking into grappling better than I'd say any fighter 185 lbs up . Dennis Hallman also has 1 if not 2 wins over prime matt Hughes.

Your ability to articulate MMA into words is astonishing! It's engaging and full of insight with out a doubt the greatest MMA wordsmith of all time and let's not forget also one of the best fighters to ever compete 👍 👏 🙌 good shit!

Fedor had deceptive speed crazy pace and everything else. The king.

It's just a shame we didn't get to see him In the UFC as he'd be a lot more adored as the pound for pound King of all time. He'd destroy bones in both their primes there was no one like hm

Fedor was so efficient. Not a bit of wasted energy. It's amazing. And the natural strength he possesses. If a country were to clone Fedor their army would be unstoppable.

Chael hits the nail on the head.

Great breakdown.

I will never forget, when Crocop was in his Prime because Crocop made me a fan of MMA. Fedor was the dominator back then, but Crocop beat the shit out of nearly everybody, kicked his opponents heads off their shoulders or knocked them out with his boxing like he did to Coleman. Crocop might have been the greatest Striker all around of that time period in MMA. Then the clash of the titans between him and Fedor was scheduled and i really thought that Crocop was the only one who could beat Fedor. But look what happened...Fedor beat Crocop in his own game, he outstriked him. Crocop getting beat on the feet in his prime was so crazy to me; i couldnt even believe it. Thats when Fedor cemented his legacy for good.

I could listen to this guy talk all day. He just has something, a kind of flow, an arsenal of words and phrases I haven't heard since I was listening to Hitchen and Dawkins. A faster cadence Sam Harris comes to mind. Yeah Chael isn't as philisophical as Harris, but he's got this clarity and smoothness that makes him one of the most beautifully articulated and imposing rhetoricians (Not to be taken in a bad way, the art of rhetoric and speaking is a very powerful skill) that I've seen in recent years. The ability to make his phrases so potent. The cadence he uses, fast so that any possibly opponent would have trouble keeping up....but not Ben Shapiro fast....which just sounds like a kid trying to talk fast without substance. I'm surprised, truly to see this coming from an MMA fighter...not because MMA fighters are dumb by ANY means, but just because MMA fighting, I think we can admit, isn't usually where we find speaking genius. But, genius can come from anywhere or any form. With that said, I agree entirely about what he said about Fedor. Yeah, Fedor would have to work harder today, but if Prime Fedor was transported into 2021...given access to the 15 years advancement in training technique, nutrition, "supplements", and knowledge that we've all aquired and learned since 2005... Prime Fedor would be able to adjust his training and yes, I think he'd beat every goddamn one they put in the ring with him. Greatest of all Time.

Fantastic video.

Pace & Pressure explains Covington as well. Can't wait for the fight!!