Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko proved to be the #1 heavyweight fighter in the world once again. This past Saturday, the Russian Sambo expert faced former UFC heavyweight champion Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia at Affliction’s debut event. Both fighters showed great respect for one another both prior and after their bout. However, Fedor proved to be the better fighter once they were placed on opposite corners of the Affliction ring.
Once the bout was signaled to start, everyone at the Honda Center In Anaheim, California stood on their feet as they witnessed one of mixed martial art’s historical events. Fedor slowly stepped toward Sylvia and once he saw the small opening, he quickly landed several devastating punches to Sylvia’s face. Fedor kept dropping lightening-speed bombs and there was absolutely nothing Sylvia could do. As Sylvia dropped to the floor to cover his face, Fedor easily locked in his hooks and submitted him via a rear naked choke.
During the post-fight Affliction press conference, Sylvia went on to say:
"I know that I’m one of the best in the world…I was amazed at how good Fedor is…he hurt me right away and submitted me…The guy’s a stud. I don’t even think he’s human… That guy hits hard… I’ve never been hit that hard before… I was definitely expecting there to be more of a feeling-out process…My manager says that it’s good that [Emelianenko] did that because that means he gives me a lot of respect. He didn’t want to go in there and play around. I guess I can kind of take that as a compliment… This guy is unreal… He’s incredible, and I don’t know if anybody’s going to beat him for a while."
Fedor Emelianenko responded to Sylvia’s comments:
"I’m human…I get nervous just like the next person. But I just try for that not to affect me and just approach a fight in a calm manner."
