Fedor Emelianenko changed his training regimen for his fight with Dan Henderson. He chose to work with his brother Aleksander who’s also a talented fighter. Although he trained with his brother, the result was the same — a third straight loss. Just like last time, the Emelianenko crew is doling out blame following the defeat.
According to a translation by Fighters Only Magazine via Bloody Elbow, Aleksander ripped Fedor’s coaches:
“They sat like two amoebas, and did not know what to say. They were asked direct questions and would say, “It is difficult to say… we will see in the fight,” – what kind of a coach says that? Only one who doesn’t understand the sport. I just call them ‘Stopwatch’ and ‘Towel’. That’s as much use as they are, that’s it,” Aleks snarled.
“[MMA] is constantly improving, but ‘Stopwatch’ and ‘Towel’ have not changed anything in the program – just frozen in time and not been able to develop the base that Fedor already has. Fedor could train himself, he must take on it personally, to rethink many of the training points to learn and develop. Suffer and work!
“We’ll talk with Fedor – whether he wants to change something in his preparation. If he wants to, I will make the effort.”
The excuse is not as bad as last time when Fedor’s trainer claimed Fedor was hypnotized, but it’s pretty bad. Fedor came out of the gate reckless rather than cautious. That was a curious decision for someone who had lost his last two fights. He landed a big shot on Henderson, knocked him down, and jumped on top of him. Then he got his lights punched out and the fight was stopped. Sometimes that happens.
Maybe Aleksander’s right and Fedor’s coaches didn’t help much, but that’s not the reason Fedor lost. Fedor got careless while being aggressive and he paid the price. If Fedor’s coaches didn’t bother to help him with strategy or tell him not to be more calculated, then that’s something for which they should be blamed. But you can’t pin the loss squarely on them.
