They’re pulling out all the stops for this Saturday’s Affliction: Banned show at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Megadeth will be there. So will Michael Buffer. The undercard is being shown on cable for free. And the main event features two of the top heavyweights in the sport: Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia.

Emelianenko was the –350 favorite at press time; he’s 28-1-1 in MMA action, with the only loss coming at a RINGS event in 2000 due to a very controversial referee stoppage. Sylvia (+275) is 24-4, with all four losses against top competition while fighting for the UFC Heavyweight title.

That competition level might be the difference in Saturday’s fight. Emelianenko hasn’t really been tested since beating Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005. And this isn’t the first time Sylvia goes into combat as the underdog. He’s got all the betting value in this matchup, but if you ignore the odds, Fedor is the easy pick.

Born September 28, 1976, Fedor Emelianenko is a Russian heavyweight mix martial artist. He had been the reigning champion in PRIDE since March 16, 2003 and was the last PRIDE heavyweight champion.

Some already consider Emelianenko a legend. Many consider him to be the best that there is. He has been largely inactive since the purchase of PRIDE by UFC, with the exception of a fight for BodogFight. The obvious place for him to be is the UFC but negotiations and signings are flying all over the place.

Emelianenko’s enthusiasm for fighting began with Judo and Sambo. It was said that in the beginning he was known to be relatively weak physically and did not have an innate grappling talent; instead, his biggest strength was his perseverance and strong will.

Recently on February 13th of this year, Emelianenko attended the first DREAM (a new Japanese Mixed Martial Arts promotion) press conference. It was confirmed that the organization had a tightly knit alliance with M-1 Global and he would be fighting on the new organizations fight cards.

With a MMA record of 28 wins and only one loss Fedor Emelianenko is defiantly a terrifying force that truly demands respect.

Dana White and the Ferretti brothers had a busy 2007. They essentially constructed a monopoly for themselves by buying out Pride Fighting Promotions. This was a very good move for them financially, but instead of sharing the wealth, the UFC has gained a reputation of being cheap to its fighters. The pay-per-view ratings for UFC events are better than that of boxing promotions, but the fighters get paid a fraction of what professional boxers do.

Dana White has worked towards creating an MMA scene that gives fighters no choice but to fight for the UFC if they want to be considered the best. Some Pride fighters have come over to the UFC. But many of the best, like Fedor Emelianenko, have decided to fight for fledgling promotions. This is the same reason UFC Heavyweight Champ Randy Couture left the organization. Hopefully this will help create a fighter’s union.

When Randy Couture resigned from the UFC, Dana White did what he always does when one of his fighters tries to stand up for himself: He went on the offensive and attacked Couture’s motives, just the same as he did with Tito Ortiz.

Below is a video from Randy Couture’s retirement press conference. Judge for yourself.

For some reason, the UFC is more interested in money than providing the best product in the world. Now that their Heavyweight Champion has left, Dana White continues to make excuses and blame others for the problems it’s having with its stable of talent. Dana White has failed to sign Fedor Emelianenko, so Couture must leave to create that fight; a fight that will easily be the most anticipated fight in MMA history.

The UFC will only maintain the top fighters if they pay top dollar, and they are obviously not willing to do that at this juncture. Perhaps if Couture was younger, Dana White might pay him what he’s worth.

The original rift between Randy Couture and the UFC happened back in September when Couture expressed displeasure with the amount of money he had made- from being underpaid compared to other UFC fighters to what he was paid to appear on Spike TVs “Pros vs. Joes.“
The latest in the increasingly nasty battle sees Couture claiming he wasn’t paid $500,000- a promised signing bonus, with UFC Chief Financial Officer John Mulkey fighting back by producing documents refuting Couture’s claim.
And don’t expect UFC head honcho Dana White to keep quiet on this issue.
“We think (Couture’s) puke Hollywood agent has got in his ear and fed him a bunch of bullshit.”
So while it seems no one is pulling any punches in this battle of the egos, it seems not all hope for a kiss-and-make-up is lost.
“I don’t know how we got here with Randy Couture. Maybe we didn’t pay enough attention to him”, said White.
And when faced with the question as to who is the true heavyweight champion of the world, White minced no words in defending his newest blacksheep bro.
“I don’t consider Fedor (Emelianenko) to be the number one fighter in the world. Fedor is a farce. Randy Couture is the number one heavyweight in the world…I was trying to get Fedor because I thought Randy could beat him.”
White didn’t rule out a reconciliation with Couture, who remains the UFC Heavyweight Champion. At least for now.
“If Tito Ortiz and I can work things out, I’m sure Randy and I can”, said White.
Heart-warming, don’t you think?

The reason that Fedor Emelianenko is the Yahoo pound-for-pound MMA favorite is because he is the most talented and most dominant fighter on the face of the earth. Emelianenko is the best Sambo fighter in the world, winning numerous national and world championships in the discipline. He has a host of international judo accomplishments and his only MMA loss came from a cut which stopped the fight. No man has ever handed him a beating in a mixed martial arts match.

He hasn’t fought since last April, and the apparent abandonment of Pride Fighting by its new owners has left his future up in the air. There has been talk about an Emelianenko / Couture superfight, but the UFC does not appear to be willing to pay Emelianenko what he’s worth. Many will never consider the UFC Heavyweight Champion as the true champ until Emelianenko steps into the octagon and competes.

It’s always sad to see an athlete’s career in decline. It’s sadder still in combat sports, because that decline can result in physical harm. We didn’t need to see Trevor Berbick beat Muhammad Ali.

Then again, fight fans can be premature when they write off someone’s career. In 2006, Randy Couture retired at age 42 after his second consecutive loss to Chuck Liddell, only to come back one year later and dominate Tim Sylvia (-275) for the UFC Heavyweight title.

Couture broke his arm in August defending the title in otherwise convincing fashion against Gabriel Gonzaga. He probably won’t fight again until 2008. Should he even bother? That depends on whether UFC can arrange that elusive matchup between Couture and Fedor Emelianenko. Neither man has anything else left to prove; Emelianenko has been dormant since April’s BodogFight appearance versus Matt Lindland. At this rate, neither he nor Couture will ever fight again – unless it’s against one another.

Since Mark Coleman first arrived on the MMA scene in the mid-90’s, the “ground and pound” technique of fighting has been one of the most dominant fighting styles in MMA. Coleman came from a wrestling background, as do virtually all ground and pound fighters, and developed a method of controlling his opponents once he took them to the ground and eventually beat them down with strikes or submission moves.

Today’s best ground and pound fighters include:

Randy Couture – Two-time UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, three-time and current UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Fedor Emelianenko – Current Pride Heavyweight Champion and considered the greatest MMA fighter in the sport today.

Matt Hughes – Two-time UFC Welterweight Champion. Will be one of the coaches for Ultimate Fighter 6 and will fight for the title again in December of 2007.

Takanori Gomi – Pride Fighting Lightweight Champion.

The Japanese martial art of Judo has produced numerous top MMA fighters.

Hidehiko Yoshida won a world championship and an Olympic Gold Medal in Judo, and had a storied MMA career. He fought greats Wanderlei Silva, David “Tank” Abbot, Mirko Filpovic and Royce Gracie.

Fedor Emelianenko won a Russian National Judo Championship and is considered the best MMA fighter of all time. His only MMA loss in 28 fights came from a stoppage due to a cut.

Karo Parisyan won six American Junior National Judo championships and is the first fighter who developed a MMA style purely from Judo. He’s one of the most dominant welterweight fighters in the world and remains primarily a Judo fighter.

Don Frye holds a second degree black belt in Judo and has had a legendary MMA career. He’s 17-6-1 in MMA, including two “three fights in one night” UFC tournament wins in 1996.