Online with Fedor Emelianenko

Recently, Fedor Emelianenko (Pride FC Heavyweight Champion) conducted an online chat session with the fans of his forum and a couple of gems came from this online exchange:

Q: Did you see the fight between Gonzaga and CroCop in the last UFC? What did you think of Gonzaga? What was CroCop's mistake?

Fedor: I saw that fight. It was clear that Gonzaga had studied CroCop very well, and he was able to do some things that other fighters had not done before. That is, he followed a predefined plan. He had a very intelligent strategy. CroCop could not get into the fight, even though his level of skill was above Gonzaga's.

Q: Dana White said recently that the losses of former Pride fighters in UFC show that the level of Pride fighters have always been inferior to UFC. What's your opinion of the UFC fighters, for example, Couture, or Arlovski?

Fedor: I don't think that fighters in Pride are weaker than the ones in the UFC. In my opinion, the Pride fighter roster is stronger. I really like Randy Couture; I really respect him as a fighter and as a person. He deserves admiration. Andrey Arlovski is a very tough fighter, and I like his matches. Although, he does not always use his strongest qualities.

Q: Do you have any experience with elbow strikes? Is it going to be hard for you to adjust to the UFC rules if you compete in that organization?

Fedor: I do use elbow strikes, and I am working on that technique. I don't think I'll have any difficulties with the rules.

Q: Do you have any fears or phobias?
Fedor: No.

Q: Do you have any "surprises" that you have not utilized in your fights yet?

Fedor: My coach thinks that I've shown only 50% of my capabilities.

Q: Fedor, when are you competing next?

Fedor: At this point, I can tell you that I will definitely compete in the World Combat Sambo Championship in Czech Republic. I don't have an MMA contract at this moment.

Dana White, sign Fedor right away or we'll boycott the next UFC PPV event... oh wait, aren't we gonna miss that one anyway because UFC 72 with Franklin/Okami isn't worth the money... save the boycott for a UFC event that's worth the money instead!

Read the full online chat session over at Fedor's house.