I hadn't seen the fight in years. I remember thinking the world of Herring at the time and figured him to be a top 3-5 guy in the world. I knew nothing about Emilianenko Fedor (the Ukranian wrestler/judoka) until he put Herring on blast, but never figured that EF would have a chance against Nog because he would try to take the fight to the ground and Nog was nothing but flypaper and submissions in my opinion.
So Fedor-Herring with 2011 eyes: Fedor is a fucking tank and a physical specimen. His slam of Herring was quick and brutal and his wild GnP sounded like shotgun blasts at times. He didn't overcommit like he has in recent fights. He even took his time and then unleashed bombs.
Herring is an outrageously tough dude. The first 3 minutes Fedor unleashes GnP hell on him, Heath doesn't do much to defend except go for leglocks and absorbs that beating.
What I found most interesting was the last minute when Herring finds himself on top and starts unloading on Fedor, who might have been spent after a 9 minute GnP drill. That took tremendous heart and courage to come back from being beat on for 9 minutes. If not for the between round stoppage and a career filled with bad luck, it might have been Herring's fight in round 2.
Heath is a bad motherfucker, I just wish he'd fight again, the guy has a great chin.
DoubleBagger - Heath is a bad motherfucker, I just wish he'd fight again, the guy has a great chin.
I feel like Fedor had years where everything broke his way and Heath is the exact opposite and the most hard luck HW in MMA. I think he could have been one of the top guys, but something always went wrong. Even late in his career when he kickfucked Nog near death, he just stood around and didn't finish. He had a chance to be a star and a top HW and he didn't take it. He gets his face broken 5 seconds into the Lesnar fight and absorbed another 15 minutes of a 300lb gorilla beating. If things broke right for Heath, he would have been a big star in this sport.
I'm reposting some GIF's I made a little while back




These Herring knees are bru-hu-tal.
A couple more Fedor knees.
Its too bad the newer fans only know of the current fedor and the BS Dana spews about Fedor not ever being great!
Its like taking the Michael Jordan that played for the Wizards, putting his game and stats beside the current Kobe Bryant and saying Kobe is the best ever without mentioning Jordans time with the Bulls.
You rarely see Fedor even trying to throw his opponents these days.
Good thread.
Soul Gravy - You rarely see Fedor even trying to throw his opponents these days.
no doubt. iirc UG poster judom had some good threads about fedors career and subsequent decline around here...getting away from his judo and strength training had a very visible and significant effect on him...as well as his fight IQ, which used to be the best in the game imo.
the guy who beat herring was a true monster, relentless and dangerous everywhere.
The Fedor of today couldn't pick up a 240-250lb Herring and take him down like that.
Bobby Lupo - He didn't overcommit like he has in recent fights. He even took his time and then unleashed bombs.
Yeah, it's amazing what caring about the result will actually do. Fedor of today just wants to get his fights over with, win lose or draw. He has no desire to be in there at all.
The UG and BLAF is kinda confused on Herring.
He was a few years ago, after many losses and being completely over the hill, a legit opponent and win for Brock.
But in his prime and only recently losing the title in a competitive bout to the then #1 HW in Nog (and after destroying some monsters at the time in Kerr and Erikson), Fedor lays the smack on him and its notched up to the can column Ws to the UG/BLAFers.
I remember thinking Fedor was going to actually kill someone with this GnP when he first came to Pride.
Herring was game back then had guts and a chin, when he fought CroCop, someone posted a GIF of him getting kicked where his whole side looked like jelly.
Wasa-B - The UG and BLAF is kinda confused on Herring.Herring is a strange case. To the Fedor lovers he was the #2 HW in the world when he fought Fedor and a heavy favorite and to the Fedor haters he's a can who had a few good wins against 1 dimensional guys and lost to all the top guys he fought. When he signed to the UFC, half of this forum thought he would blow through the division and take the title.
He was a few years ago, after many losses and being completely over the hill, a legit opponent and win for Brock.
But in his prime and only recently losing the title in a competitive bout to the then #1 HW in Nog (and after destroying some monsters at the time in Kerr and Erikson), Fedor lays the smack on him and its notched up to the can column Ws to the UG/BLAFers.
I think he's somewhere in the middle, but closer to a top guy when him and Fedor fought. When I first watched this I was annoyed that Heath was trapped under this wild wrestler and not getting to his feet when these insane haymakers were flying on the ground. Even after the first Nog fight, I thought Fedor got lucky and someone would figure him out. I don't think anyone figured him out, I think he stopped giving a fuck, stopped training, evolving and improving. He fought for a paycheck and he succeeded far beyond what he could have imagined in that department. When you fight for the money and care nothing about legacy (which he said 6,000 times) then you lose the hunger when you and your family are set for life.
Herring was absolutely a top guy in his prime.
When Herring came to the UFC, he was not so much.
I dont think he was ever one of the best but he was still def one of the top contenders of his day.
His wins over Erikson and Kerr was similar to the Mo Smith weather the early storm from the wrestlers and get back up to kick ass.
It was still a legit win for Brock in the sense that Brock was a noob and Herring a vet but i dont think it was any surprise for anyone that Brock was able to WF Herring at that point.
Bobby Lupo -Wasa-B - The UG and BLAF is kinda confused on Herring.Herring is a strange case. To the Fedor lovers he was the #2 HW in the world when he fought Fedor and a heavy favorite and to the Fedor haters he's a can who had a few good wins against 1 dimensional guys and lost to all the top guys he fought. When he signed to the UFC, half of this forum thought he would blow through the division and take the title.
He was a few years ago, after many losses and being completely over the hill, a legit opponent and win for Brock.
But in his prime and only recently losing the title in a competitive bout to the then #1 HW in Nog (and after destroying some monsters at the time in Kerr and Erikson), Fedor lays the smack on him and its notched up to the can column Ws to the UG/BLAFers.
I think he's somewhere in the middle, but closer to a top guy when him and Fedor fought. When I first watched this I was annoyed that Heath was trapped under this wild wrestler and not getting to his feet when these insane haymakers were flying on the ground. Even after the first Nog fight, I thought Fedor got lucky and someone would figure him out. I don't think anyone figured him out, I think he stopped giving a fuck, stopped training, evolving and improving. He fought for a paycheck and he succeeded far beyond what he could have imagined in that department. When you fight for the money and care nothing about legacy (which he said 6,000 times) then you lose the hunger when you and your family are set for life.
VTFU! Brilliant post.
This fight crushed me. I was a huge HH fan, and I had no clue who this big mean Russian guy was. The last minute of that first round when Heath gets up and goes at Fedor a little bit is just unbelievable. I had mixed emotions when the doctors stopped it between rounds. Part of me thought Heath was coming back, the other part of me didn't want to see him take any more of those shotgun blasts to the head.
Morgz - This fight crushed me. I was a huge HH fan, and I had no clue who this big mean Russian guy was. The last minute of that first round when Heath gets up and goes at Fedor a little bit is just unbelievable. I had mixed emotions when the doctors stopped it between rounds. Part of me thought Heath was coming back, the other part of me didn't want to see him take any more of those shotgun blasts to the head.I was in the same boat except the consolation prize for HH in my opinion was not having to fight Nog again when it looked like this matchup was shaking out the next Nog victim.
Bobby Lupo -DoubleBagger - Heath is a bad motherfucker, I just wish he'd fight again, the guy has a great chin.
I feel like Fedor had years where everything broke his way and Heath is the exact opposite and the most hard luck HW in MMA. I think he could have been one of the top guys, but something always went wrong. Even late in his career when he kickfucked Nog near death, he just stood around and didn't finish. He had a chance to be a star and a top HW and he didn't take it. He gets his face broken 5 seconds into the Lesnar fight and absorbed another 15 minutes of a 300lb gorilla beating. If things broke right for Heath, he would have been a big star in this sport.
I agree with the first sentence especially. If you gather Fedor's fights together and watch them all in a row from the beginning, he did some amazing things, but mostly things kind of went his way. I found myself kind of surprised at this because we all (most of us) put Fedor on a pedestal, but a lot of his fights could have easily slid to the loss side.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that Fedor is great because he always found a way to win, but he certainly didn't steamroll everyone like current fans think.