"He's a solid prospect, sure, but how many names would someone other than Monte have thrown out before Rothwell?"
Honestly I prefer Rothwell to Monson or Rizzo. He's a fresh face and much like Hunt, I think he'll give Fedor more than he bargains for.
You guys will never be happy unless it's against Randy or Barnett, which I don't understand. Randy is going to be out for a while, and if everything goes PERFECTLY, the soonest this fight can happen is October.
Barnett on the other hand, while I am a really big fan of his, he is 2-2 in his last 4 fights. He beat Nog in a fight that some people say Nog won, then he got destroyed by Cro Cop. Then he beat Natsula (Okay?), and then got beat by Nog.
So, I guess I don't understand what the big hub-bub about Fedor fighting Barnett is. I really don't care if I see that fight or not.
It's a no win for Fedor.
"It's a no win for Fedor. "
IMO, beating a dude like Rothwell is definitely enough to solidify his spot at #1. The dude has won 13 straight against damn good competition. A win over Rothwell is definitely something to hang your hat on.
If the past few years have taught us anything it's that anything can happen in a fight.
Like I've said before, until someone proves they're better than Fedor, you can't rank anyone above him.
"If the past few years have taught us anything it's that anything can happen in a fight. "
For damn sure.
rothwell is a pretty good opponent, the guy's close to breaking into the top ten.
but, m-1 is going to have alot of trouble breaking in on the american market unless they can get someone like couture on the card.
I've been pretty critical of Fedor's last few fights, but I don't feel this is too bad of a fight.
Big Ben should probably be just outside of the top ten at this point. Certainly not the best fight, but most of the other guys are tied up. Barnett.. who the heck knows. From the interviews he doesn't seem to be in any rush to fight Fedor.
This is a step up from Choi, Lindland, or Coleman. They need to just finalize a fight already. Is it Rizzo, Shchilt, or Rothwell? Either of these three would make for half decent opponents. None are top ten, but at least they pose half a threat without being utterly outweighed or COMPLETELY clueless on the ground.
The thing people don't understand is, people are going to become free agents and with the money M-1 has, they might not go back into the UFC. Why not give it some time here?
I actually like this matchup...
I don't think M-1 is going to be throwing that much money around. They are already blowing their whole bankroll on Fedor's enormous contract.
I think Rothwell is a step above Choi but still nowhere near the caliber Fedor should be fighting. It will do nothing to bolster his #1 ranking.
Well at least Fedor will fight someone in the HW class it's been a long time since he's done that.
"Well at least Fedor will fight someone in the HW class it's been a long time since he's done that. "
You're just fucking ridiculous dude.
I love how everyone just assumes that because Mark Cuban is rich and a fan of MMA he's going to just throw his money away for the love of the sport.
Mark Cuban is going to build his brand slowly and profitably and for him to add a ridiculous contract like Fedor's at this stage would be a very bad business decision.
To be honest, he'd probably much sooner sign guys like Tito and Arlovski if they were to become available due to their name value in the US market not to mention the fact that they will likely be a lot cheaper.
^^^ That's why he wants to still have Fedor fight on one of this cards, is in the process of getting him to fight for HD later this year.
I hope ben beats him
No no, I meant HDNet fights. Cuban wants Fedor to fight on HDNet Fights.
Rothwell's not an awful choice. I think I'd still rather see Rizzo just because he has one-punch KO power.