There were so many legends of MMA in the cage who traveled to Inglewood, California, from every corner of the country who knew exactly the feeling Fedor Emelianenko had on Saturday. At Ali’s peak, Berbick wasn’t good enough to tie his shoes, but at the end, Ali suffered an ignominious beating. Mark Coleman, who was beaten twice by Emelianenko at a time when both were in their primes, ended by losing three of his last four and was knocked out by Randy Couture in the second round of his final bout.
Couture, one of the few legends of the early days of MMA that Emelianenko did not meet, was knocked out via front kick at age 47 in the second round by Lyoto Machida. Chuck Liddell was there, and he lost his final four, all by knockout, and dropped six of his final seven.
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson called it quits at 41 after he was knocked out in 2019 by Emelianenko of all people. Frank Shamrock was knocked out in his final two and lost three of his last four before retiring at 38. MMA heartlessly, cruelly devours its legends and another went down the same path on Saturday.
Let’s be honest here for a moment: Emelianenko, at 46, had no business being in the cage on Saturday.
Bader is far from the greatest fighter, or even greatest heavyweight in the world, but he’s a solid professional who has never lost at heavyweight. It would have been better to have him give a curtain call without fighting, letting the fans say goodbye by watching a perfectly edited highlight reel and having his peers in the cage to shake his hand and congratulate him on a job well done. “On the other side, though, I’m happy that all these people are here cheering for me and all these veteran fighters who have walked this path with me for the last 20 years are here to greet me, so I’m very happy.”
