Fedor Drops to LHW to Fight Dan Henderson... thoughts?

http://mmafrenzy.com/18174/fedor-eme...keforce-event/

I won't paste the article, you guys can click the link to read it, but I'm just curious, do you guys think this is a desperate attempt for Fedor to stay relevant? Is it a move Fedor should have made years ago? Is Fedor just unable to compete with today's top guys and weight class won't matter?

Personally, I think Fedor has been a step below the top tier for a while now. He hasn't had any truly notable wins (MAYBE brett rodgers = notable) in a while, I mean Arlovski, Silvia, Lindland... they're not exactly the toughest fights these days. M1 was able to maintain Fedor's "aura" for longer than they should have, and more power to them, it's a business and I understand that. But back to the point... Will Fedor's drop to LHW be the spark he needs to resurrect his career, or will it be the final nail in the coffin of a truly legendary career? My thoughts: Fedor will lose to Hendo via first or second round KO. Fedor won't be able to take Hendo down. The only way I see Fedor squeaking out a win is if Hendo decides to take Fedor down and Fedor throws up one of those triangles out of no where. All in all, I think a Fedor win is a long shot, and perhaps this is even a smart fight to bet Hendo on, since I'm sure the line will be very close, if not favoring Fedor.

im totally with you on this one matt. too little too late as far as i can tell, its been obvious he shouldnt be competing at HW for years as hes much smaller than most of the HW fighters and even some LHW. it would be an easy cut too if he got into better physical shape and maintained it. hendo will be swinging for the fences too, he would wanna take this win to help push his on for even longer i'd assume. when hendo goes for it he can hit Hard! as a brit i back bisping, but i pissed myself when he got KO'd by such a solid shot. either way, this will be a beast of a fight!!1!!one!1!!!!

He should have dropped to 205 long ago. He is def past his prime but he may be able to KO Hendo. Interesting fight regardless.

Its hard to tell but I can say that Fedor dropping to LHW can only make him better it will force him to get in better shape and hell be able to fight guys his size for once. One thing you have to give Fedor is the man can take alot of punishment and keep coming no one has been able to put him to sleep yet so with all that said I think it will be a great match and a good test to see how competetive he will be at LHW.

i am always happy to see Fedor fight and he only recently started to lose his fights so now is the prefect time to drop a weight class.

When he fought Arlovski and Silvia they were both top 10.. I believe top 5 but much to lazy to look up an old ranking. Also no one thought he would win those fights back then either.. Hes never done a triangle in mma but I assume thats a typo and you meant armbar.

Fedor has been my favorite fighters and shogun second favorite.. I don't think light heavy is a good weight for him.. its far to competitive and even if he was in his "prime" its just such a different dynamic compared to heavy. I think if he wanted a few more fights heavyweight would have been is best bet. Would he be able to beat the best... no.. but he could get some wins in with the mid/lower tier.. I think the weight difference is the biggest issue.. and everyone at the top outweighs him by at least 40lbs

As far as hendo I highly doubt fedor will get knocked out by him.. but I guess there is always a first time though. I see it as hendo by decision or fedor by submission.. maybe just maybe decision. If I was to bet I'd say fedor.. if anything he should be painfully motivated by now. I don't think he should stay at lhw though if he keeps fighting after this.

I'm not a Fedor fan but I gotta go with him on this one. All he has to worry about is Hendos over hand right. I say fedor by tko 2rd.

For a variety of reasons, I'm going with Hendo. I think Hendo has the better chin, comparably heavy hands, is in better shape, and IMHO he has the better grappling style...

Fedor is an incredible grappler, but the way that sambo-style grappling (which is largely, but not limited to, judo and central asian folk wrestling) matches up with Hendo's greco leads me to believe that Hendo has the better takedowns and better control. I say this with a fair amount of experience, as well, because I've been training sambo on top of my BJJ for quite some time now.

What Fedor does have working for him, though, is his experience against much larger opponents, and possibly his footlocks.

I see Fedor gassing quicker then he expects to after the weight cut. He's not used to cutting weight and at this stage of his career and at his age, it could wreck havoc on his cardio and stamina. If Dan clinches, pushes him into the fence, and dirty boxes early on he could easily exhaust Fedor and then get the decision or the finish when he's weak. If the cut also slows Fedor's hand speed it will leave him with little options since I don't see him taking Hendo down. At heavyweight I'd go with fedor but with the weight cut I've gotta go with Hendo for the win

It will happen at heavyweight.

if fedor was in heavy-training, he would have been light heavyweight a long time ago! Cro Cop is the one who REALLY needs to cut down to 205!

At 205 I think Dan may have a chance, at HW Fedor will win. Fedor never really out techniqued in any of his fights, he lost to size and there is no size issue against Hendo. The chance Hendo has at LHW is that we never saw Fedor cut to 205 and it may effect him negatively.

Can't have a fedor thread without this highlight video.. my favorite highlight video of any fighter because I think the production is spot on.. also shows how much hes slowed down compared to back in the day.. didn't notice until I went back to my favorites to watch this again today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVVrNOQtlzY

I agree that is the best highlight video I have ever seen.