There are times when it takes a while to come down off of a buzz, and for the second time, a fight card presented by a t-shirt company has done just that. The internet will be abuzz, as usual, with talk of production values, buy rates and attendance. I think pushing all of that aside for a moment what you will see is an ultimately satisfying fight card, with each of the fights providing excitement rarely seen on your average $45 PPV card. Capped off by a fight for the ages, an emotional rollercoaster that was Andrei Arlovski challenging Fedor Emelianenko for the WAMMA Heavyweight Championship.

Affliction’s second card has been plagued since the day it was announced, being cancelled due to poor ticket sales and Affliction trying to seal a deal with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions to help create a buzz around the show. The talk was always that Fedor was not a draw in the United States, but when push came to shove, the card not featuring Fedor was not selling tickets. When Barnett vs. Arlovski was no longer the featured main event, instead Arlovski vs. Fedor a few fans grumbled that Barnett was the better fighter and more likely the better fight for Fedor.

Instead Affliction chose the more memorable UFC Heavyweight Champion to headline against Fedor, and ultimately, it was an incredible decision. Not many fights get me excited anymore. Mixed Martial Arts is growing, and as a part of the growth comes a lot of cards featuring a lot of good, not great fighters facing off against each other. Even if the fighters facing off are great, the match ups are not exciting, they are competitive. They are guys with similar skillsets cancelling each other out, or simply guys with opposing skillsets trying to avoid the other’s strength. But this fight was different, this was two guys who aren’t afraid to engage, who are explosive, and easily the best heavyweights in the world. 

I have always been a huge fan of both fighters, and this fight was a dream fight: former PRIDE Heavyweight Champion facing off against the UFC Heavyweight Champion from the same period. Both guys indestructable in their respective promotions. The difference was the fame went to Andrei’s head, life became a lot quicker for him. The supermodel girlfriends, the late nights partying, the new friends, the media coverage. It wouldn’t be the first time that we saw that happen with a champion, with some notable examples being Chuck Liddell and Rampage Jackson, both being thrust into the media spotlight and having their respective meltdowns (Rampage’s being quicker and more insane, Chuck’s slower and more depressing). It took Andrei almost two years to regain his step.

Fedor on the other hand never lost his step, but fans and pundits decided that he wasn’t as good as he was due to the lack of competition after the collapse of PRIDE. The reality was, the heavyweight division worldwide was never the strongest and for a time the UFC was the place to be. Fighting tumored giants and chubby Middleweights was all that was offered to Fedor. When the time came to fight Sylvia, many questioned Fedor’s ability to defend against the giant’s sharp jabs and clinch game. We never got to see any of that from Sylvia as Fedor simply launched at him, destroying him with apparent ease. 

Fedor/Andrei was going to be different. Andrei had made a pact to not make the same mistakes that he made against Tim Sylvia, to get rid of the taint of being a flat-footed boxer with a lack of head movement. He didn’t want to just be the guy with the fast, powerful hands. He did just that, and went into this fight with a clear gameplan: outbox Fedor. Fedor, while powerful and hard to hurt, has poor form when it comes to the stand up game. Using crisp striking and avoiding Fedor’s looping hooks, staying calm and picking your spots was the way to beat Fedor. When rewatching the fight, it is clear that this was working for Arlovski. He was dissecting Fedor on the feet, he was avoiding every looping jab. He also showed improved grappling, as Fedor was unable to take him down when they clinched up against the ropes.

Fedor kept his calm, even when Arlovski had him literally on the ropes. This calm, even when taking a lot of precise and powerful shots from Andrei was what would be the determining factor in this fight. After the opening 2 minutes it was clear that this was Arlovski’s fight to lose. His boxing was tight, his movement was unlike we’ve ever seen from him before. The only time Fedor came close to touching him was when he clinched him against the ropes, but that only led to a forced reset by the ref. Fedor knew that this fight had to go to the ground or he had to get that shot off and down Arlovski. After a few accurate and short flurries, Andrei used a powerful kick to force Fedor into the corner, a tactic that defined his last two dominant performances. If he could get somebody into a corner and go to town on them, they stood no chance.

What happened next was simiply unreal. Arlovski made a decision that will undoubtedly haunt him for ages, he rushed in going for a flying knee. This flying knee barely got off the ground, when as soon as Andrei left his feet and his hands dropped, Fedor used a well timed looping hook that he is known for and Andrei Arlovski was knocked out before he ever even hit the ground. If you blinked you’d miss the punch, and you’d just see Andrei jump up and belly flop. There were no further strikes needed, Fedor simply stood menacingly over his fallen foe as Big John McCarthy ushered Fedor away from the fallen Pitbull. It was unreal. 

The whole fight had me beyond excited, it was the only fight since the Badr Hari/Remy Bonjasky fight in K1 where I was on my feet the entire time and had the adrenaline pumping through me. It was the capstone to what was a wholly entertaining card, seeing outstanding performances by Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Vitor “Fucking” Belfort, Josh Barnett and yes, even Gilbert Yvel put up an amazing fight. I think it is only fair that Andrei, if he can pick up another win against top competition, and that Fedor can survive the Josh Barnett ground game, that both of them will meet again someday. I can only hope that we do get to see Andrei/Fedor II, because this was an incredibly emotional fight. 

I think that it would be crass to say that any other fighter outside of Randy Couture can bring out the emotion and suspense that Fedor Emelianenko can. All hail the king.