Having only been a fan for past 2 years. It is only the 3rd Fedor fight I have seen live (all Strikeforce). So I saw him struggle to beat Brett Rogers and lose convincingly to Silva and Werdum
I simply don’t know best, but by the looks of it his competition over the past few years really was not up to scratch. All the following were past their sell by date when he faced them; Arlovski, Sylvia, Lindland and Coleman. On top of these he faced a few nobodies .
So in the past 6-7 years his only notable victories (please correct me if I am wrong, my knowledge pre 2009 is purely based on various websites and YouTube) were Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira and Cro-Cop.
Also one of his most famous wins was against Kevin Randleman. The suplex he survived is incredible. But Randleman doesn’t exactly have an outstanding record. And Fedor only barley defeated him. If in the unlikely event he went to UFC. Cain and JDS would destroy him. And you just wouldn’t know what his chances would be against the likes of Brock, Mir, Struve and Carwin. In fact it would probably destroy any legacy he has remaining if he did join the UFC (perhaps he already knew that).
Fedor didn't struggle with Brett, he threw him around quite easily which was pretty shocking considering the size difference. IF you don't know, Fedor has paper for skin. His nose opened up like a melon from basically nothing.
Fedor would beat Werdum 9x out of 10. He made a mistake and fell into his guard but Werdum doesn't have the chin or stand up to deal with Fedor. If they fight again Werdum would almost assuredly lose.
Big Foot is a different story. He comes into the ring at 285+ come fight. He has a granite chin. He has decent striking. He is a legit BJJ black belt.
Fedor gave up 55+ pounds in that fight against someone. What has happened isn't that Fedor isn't good. What has happened is the division has changed.
The UFC heavyweight division is also a joke. Brock has no chin. Cain isn't a giant and has a glass jaw. JDS isn't a giant either. Fedor would match up much more favorably in terms of size with the latter two. Cain being 244, JDS being 240 and Fedor being 230-235.
You could probably take 4 guys out of the SF GP who could and would beat all 3 of those guys.
Fedor, Horsemeateem, Sergei, Bigfoot.
Fedor would probably beat everyone in the GP himself with the exception of Bigfoot, and the 'reem. Those two guys just being WAY too big, and strong in the area of Fedors strength.
What you should probably realize, is Fedor COULD just about make middleweight. Anderson Silva is basically the same size as Fedor, what sets these two apart in terms of fighting weight is, Fedor likes icecream and donuts. Anderson starves himself down to about 200 pounds, and then water cuts the rest of the way to 185. Anderson walks around at about 220 and fights at 185. Fedor walks around and fights at about 230.
That is, for me at least, the key to what makes Fedor such a special fighter. He is NOT a natural heavy weight. He is a small LHW or an oversized middleweight that just doesn't give a shit about his weight.