fedora the explorer, swipers just swiped him

Fedor defending a takedown from Mark Coleman

While im disappointed he lost, its not directed at Fedor himself, or Pezao for taking full control of his destiny

im disappointed in myself for letting my inner child take control of my emotions, and put all the chips on Red-Devil

for a while now, i've had the opportunity taken from me for various reason's to watch my beloved sport

see the up and comers, and see the greats get greater...

i didn't find out Fedor lost to Werdum till almost a month and a half later

i fell out of the loop, and i spent the last 2 months getting back into the loop

not only did i get back in it, i ran it, upside down and all around every side

like Sonic The Hedgehog i traversed and got my rings/hit my springs and i balled up..

to take on all obstacles

Everybody has a childhood, and everybody has that one hero, superman, spiderman, batman

in my case it was Joe Strummer, to me he was the greatest musician ever to live, and i was lucky enough to hear him speak, sing, and meet him (he signed my record) and throughout my early teens he was the greatest thing ever...

Until one night late in my mom's dinning room ( we had cable set up in the dining room i know its strange we didnt have it in the living room till like 2 years later)

i sat straddling my chair, coffee mug in hand, almost dangling from my fingers

it was my 16th birthday, 3rd of November and i watched what i thought was the next level of pro wrestling.

Two men in a ring, tackling, grappling and striking each other, i had no clue what the commentary team was saying, but it never mattered my brother and i had watched pro wrestling in almost every language on the planet, just to see the 'sport' itself

Those two men were Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Heath Herring.

Not knowing anything about the sport i would come to love

i immediately gravitated to Herring spurring him on to defeat the Brazillian

to my disappointment Big Nog took Herring the distance and became the first

Heavyweight champion of PRIDE FC, i wouldnt watch it live again for a few years

but in-between i learned, read and watched some of the previous PRIDE events, earlier UFC tournaments and any type of "vale tudo" i could find

The next time i would see Nog, he was standing across the ring from the man i now know

simply as Fedor

a small package put together by the sports announcer's informed me this was the second time the men had met, and the first was ruled a no contest..

i sat again, cup in hand in awe, going against the Brazilian.. and i was not disappointed

Fedor bombarded, and rained blows that looked as ferocious as they sounded

over and over drilling Nog, in amongst the back and forth grappling that ensued

and he prevailed, what i thought was pro wrestling, was something more

a brutal, and beautiful display of skill, heart and absolute dominating power is what i had witnessed, and it would continue for almost a decade

fast forward to 2011 and i've witnessed what had become the focal point of my MMA fanaticism

destroyed, with all his offence quashed, or countered before my eyes and the fight called off, for fears he could not continue.

Calls of "he was just too big" or "how can anyone overcome a size advantage like that" rung out among sports blog's - but what everyone's seemed to throw to the side, was this was Fedor

the man that made freakshow's seem almost reasonable, when he dismantled gigantic Korean kickboxer Hong Man Choi and arm barred him in the first round, the size and weight advantage didn't matter when he won, but now he's finally suffered not one, but 2 back to back defeats

(regardless of what some may say, due to the stoppage, last night was a defeat)

all the variables that made his myth and legend seem all the more fierce and his career tha tmuch more special

are thrown out as negatives, and exscuses as to why he lost.

Size

Height

Weight

Reach

Power

Fedor had conquered them all in the race for MMA supremacy as the greatest fighter who ever lived - Until last night they finally caught back up, and overtook him in the race

BJJ has run a muck on Fedor in his last two outings, once via straight submission when he was forced to surrender his hope via tapout

and now a second time where regardless of his opponents size in the past

transitional guard play coupled with a deeper skill set than past opponents who towered over top

exhausted, and wore down fedor, while ground and pound rendered him unable to continue the fight in the eyes of medical staff

Fedor's downhill race has already begun, will he fight again?

Coker says yes

but many say he clearly stated its done, an dusted and his reign has ended with a retirement in the cage

with news of coker considering Fedor being an "alternate" in the tournament, its already become what many feared it might

a joke, even the consideration of putting a fighter back in, who lost int he first round renders the idea that the "best man" will prevail a complete void statement and makes any hope strikeforce had of keeping the tourny legit null, not enough coker has stated who knows we may still see Fedor vs Overeem anyway...

which means yet again strikeforce would put a fighter coming off a loss into the title picture, instead of the winner of the tournament...

because at this stage, fedor won't wait, his clock is already ticking out, and i don't think the fans want to wait.. its now or never, and when ever it is

it makes a fool out of fans for buying into the idea we would witness the best man prevail and gain what he rightfully deserves (a title shot against their HW strap holder The Reem)

and it puts all their money on Red, as mine was

and its a bet that cannot be won