Fedor Emelianenko And When The Desperate Get Going

You can't make this stuff up. Fresh off a loss to Antonio Silva at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva, Fedor Emelianenko's coaches are resorting tactics that one would describe as pathetic were it not for concern of selling the word "pathetic" short. Vladimir Voronov, one of Fedor's judo and sambo coaches, believes a culprit in the loss to "Bigfoot" Silva was, drumroll please: psychological technology.

When the times get desperate, the desperate get going.

Fighters Only UK has more:

"We believe that forbidden psychological technology was used… It seems to us that not everything was right, and that certain technologies were used. Not ones that could be seen by the naked eye but psychological technologies that worked on both fighters at a distance," he said to Russian website LifeSports.ru

"That is why during the fight Fedor was just not like himself. It seemed very strange behaviour from Fedor. He stepped into the ring and did everything exactly the opposite of what we practiced before the fight. We were all shocked! Fedor had never previously done such a thing.

"Now nearly a week passes, everything settles, and we understand why all this happened."

This is barely worth a response, so I'll keep this brief. It's not worth underscoring how Fedor was tactically defeated. That would be trying to force dignity into a debate where it's not welcome.

This sad turn of post-fight responses from Fedor's management is all further indication he should further consider retirement. Fedor has built a ton of capital with fans over the length of his career with exceptional performances. He spent much of it in losing the PR battle with UFC brass during his post-Affliction negotiating period. Now he's allowing his management, advisors and even coaches burn his considerable investment.

Admittedly, this isn't news anyone but the hardcore MMA audience is going to consume. And it isn't Fedor himself saying as much, which would be significantly more problematic. But the farrago of imbecilic statements from Fedor's inner circle, not to mention the whiff of malfeasance one gets from the contrast in Fedor's statements about retirement with those from M-1, almost becomes too much to bear.

They'll shred Fedor of every molecule of dignity if he lets them. One can hope he doesn't believe it's god's will.