Pristine_Condition said:
No he didn't. And he never gave him a rematch by choice. He fought him to win the belt, then was forced to fight him again because it was the Grand Prix Tourney. Second "fight" you are counting as a fight was a NC and doesn't count. After Nog took him to a decision, no more fights against Nog. It's been six years now.
How often do you see a rematch after you've beaten someone soundly twice? C'mon man.
Gee. I don't know. Maybe because that Hunt fight was a BS split decision. Or maybe, just maybe because he went on a blistering five win streak and fucking won the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix, which was supposed to be the premier MMA event in the history of the world at the time? But yeah...why would Fedor want to give him a rematch? Much better to fight Hunt after he got subbed by Barnett in the quarters. An easily-subbed Hunt was sooooo much more deserving of a shot at the "great" Fedor than a prime time Cro-Cop at the peak of his MMA career. Instead, Cro-cop had to step to the UFC because he was told he wasn't getting a rematch.
I'll refresh your memory. From Cro Cop's wiki: After his victory at the Open-Weight Grand Prix, a rematch between Filipović and Fedor Emelianenko failed to materialize and on December 12, 2006 Filipović pulled out of the New Year's Eve event, citing both a foot injury and Emelianenko's commitment to meet Mark Hunt at the card in question. Through his official website, Filipović revealed "I still can't kick like I want to. It's the best that we give more time to this injury to heal. I want to be in perfect shape for my next fights."
He lost to Fedor in 2005, every fight he had in 2006 was in the Grand Prix, then he left to the UFC. You can't magically make fights schedule. He already beat him...but he's ducking?
At least he was a legit MMA fighter. Unlike a lot of these pigs on Fedor's supposedly illustrious post-summer 2005 win record.
He was scheduled to fight him. What do you want?
He was a legit Top 10 MMA fighter at several times when Fedor was choosing to fight tomato cans. If Kharitonov was beating him, than there's another guy Fedor could have fought instead of a tiny Matt Lindland and Hong Man Choi...
You seem convinced Werdum was a huge looming threat on the Pride scene. It's really not the case. The night Fedor fought Cro Cop, Werdum was in his second Pride fight and known as Cro Cop's training partner. He hadn't even risen up the hierarchy of the division...he was fighting people making their Pride debuts. He entered the Open Weight GP and lost in the quarters. How is he on the radar back then? Do you really think Werdum was hanging with Fedor in this era?
Sergei couldn't even beat Fedor's brother.
Well, that's not what I heard Couture say directly to my face while standing 10 feet away from me. He said he was willing to get all the money together himself with investors and they would have kept the lion's share. But every time it got semi-close to happening, there was one other thing from Fedor's management team. I believed him.
Couture had a non-compete clause and was in the midst of a legal battle with the UFC, which he lost. He was never cleared to fight outside of the UFC before returning to them. You have the UFC to blame, not Fedor's management.
After the Vera KO in 2006. He went to Fedor's people and tried to get a fight and they said no. They didn't think much of former UFC HW champs. Lawl.
I don't remember this at all. You have a link?
He appeared on most lists as a Top 10 fighter after he beat the fuck outta Fabiano Scherner in mid-2006. He never really dropped off until he lost to Shane Carwin.
Okay, we can pretend Gonzaga was ranked top 10 after beating...Fabiano Schrerner. All of these fights are in the UFC. When was he supposed to be fighting Gonzaga?
