Ricco has remained very active in the last year, and in the last 14 months has compiled an impressive record of 7-2, with some notable wins including rising star Rob Broughton and John Brown. Victories not to be sniffed at. We all know his pedigree, a former UFC champion with the wrestling ability to take the fight where he wants it. Although Fedor is one of the best ever, I think Rodriguez would give him as much as he can handle and is better suited to take the fight to Fedor than Sylvia or Arlovski were, and I'm a huge Pitbull fan. But Ricco would give Fedor a real problem with his ability to assert positional control, one that if Fedor can overcome will be a great lead-in to his possible title shot with Overeem.
Perhaps most importantly, Ricco's resurgance has been bolstered in recent weeks by his time spent at Wolfslair, when he was brought in to help Bisping prepare for his unfortunate defeat against Dan Henderson. Probably for the first time in his career, Ricco was exposed to a world class training facility and elite level training partners who would have forced him to raise his game immeasurably. Iron sharpens iron, and his exposure to one of the premier camps in the sport will have prepared him well and helped develop him into a formidable opponent for the fearsome Russian.
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Got to have respect for someone who has turned their life and career around like this, and now represents a significant challenge to Fedor's nearly unblemished legacy.
How recent is that second picture of Ricco? I hope he manages to get on the right track and stay there.
People give him a hard time for the way he acts, but (as a lot of people will tell you) when I met Ricco he was totally cool and it changed my opinion for the better. I expected him to be the douchebag he sometimes came across as on TV, but in person he seemed a lot more laid back and sincere.
Anyway, in theory Ricco does present a somewhat difficult style matchup for Fedor (to the extent that those exist) due to his pressure from the top. Even Heath Herring swept Fedor in their fight before the end of the round, and Ricco could potentially nullify aspects of Fedor's guard (explosive armbars, etc.), pass, and then land some strikes or at least spend time winning in the eyes of the judges. In the US with elbows allowed would probably be his best bet.
There's always the issue of whether he could get the takedown, but IMO Fedor may run into trouble in the future if he stuffs or reverses a shot or a throw and then allows himself to get pulled into the guard of a decent BJJ player. Ricco has shown that he can reverse even top level guys if they make any mistakes, although I think Fedor is probably just too good of an athlete for him at this stage in their careers.
the 2nd pic he looks in shape, the bottom pic he looks ballooned up again...either way i hope this happens and i hope he busts his ass n comes in in great shape, he can definately pull off the upset...he should go back to trainin with bas haha
