Cain Valesquez/Fedor Emelianko: Compare and Contrast

Let me start by giving big props to Budo and wishing him all the luck in the world with this endeavor. I'm very excited to be a part of it and in the company of so many other outstanding MMA writers.

Now before you all begin to ostracize me based on the title of my thread please hear me out. I am not likening Cain's accomplishments to date with those of The Russian Experiment, however, I will concede to putting the cart in front of the horse.

Cain Valesquez is an eloquent soft spoken, gracious human being. When asked recently on Inside MMA if he felt he deserved a title shot more than the Mir Carwin winner he replied, "No, those guys have done more than me and deserve it more." I beg to differ, but the point is that Cain is a Hell of a nice guy.

Fedor when asked about fellow fighters and potential match ups reserves judgment, never having a bad word to say about another fighter. So in my estimation, it's safe to say both fighters are pretty decent fellas.

Both fighters are very loyal to their origins. Fedor is an ambassador to his mother land of Russia and Stary Oskel where he surrounds himself with family and friends. He does not let his ego rise above his star. He remains very attached to his roots. Fedor also was a Russian soldier.

Valesquez was also queried about his "Brown Pride" tattoo that he has brandished across his chest in the same segment of Inside MMA. He went on to discuss his father risking the crossing from Mexico into the US and having to travel through Death Valley to give his kids a better life. He is proud to be Mexican and states growing up that the term "Brown Pride" was what motivated him and his loved ones when the chips were basically stacked against them. Now I realize that if Brock Lesnar replaced his dagger tattoo with a big "White Pride" tattoo, that it wouldn't fly. However, it is what it is. Cain represents a minority and anybody judging him based on that "ink" likely has not taken the time to listen to the man defend his stance. So while expressed differently, both Fedor and Cain have great pride in their ethnic backgrounds.

Now the above may seem like a reach. I mean shit, Marcus Davis is proud to be Irish, and he's a Hell of a nice guy too. The real comparison between Fedor and Cain for me lies in the way they fight. OK, Cain doesn't even have 10 fights, but talent of his caliber speaks for itself. I'll go ahead and bullet my observed likenesses.

• Recovery Powers: Fedor was clocked by Fujita and literally had his head spiked like a football by Randleman. He went on to end those fights within a minute each. Cain on the other end of it was hit with bulls eyes by Kongo and on his way down miraculously turned what looked like an inevitable knockdown into a double leg and brutalized the big Frenchman for 15 minutes.
• Killer instinct: Both fighters have an imminent sense of working feverishly to end the fight. When blood is smelled by these guys they become killers. The pace they can both fight at is mind boggling.
• Well rounded fighters: Fedor can beat nearly anyone standing or on the ground. There is no facet of the game that he is giving up a glaring advantage in. He rips arms off, pounds guys out, and KOs them. Cain, while not exhibiting any crazy submission skills so far, has become menacingly good on his feet. His fluency with his hands and his leg kicks were technique personified. He's only going to get better, which is scary.
• Neither man has been defeated. Now I completely acknowledge a decade of arguable dominance by Fedor. Regardless, there was a 5 year period when he crushed the best HWs in the world. As for the circus side show Japanese fights, well I'm of the rare fan who was impressed by them too. I don't believe Randy Cotoure could survive in full guard with a 350 lb Hong Man Choi bringing down leather.
• Size: Fedor and Cain are both undersized HWs.

There are some vast differences between the fighters. First of all, let's hope Cain's business sense and practices don't parallel those of Fedor and his Russian leash holders. Fedor is seemingly faster and his ground skills are just unbelievable from a submission perspective. If they were to fight right now, I'm confident Fedor would win. However, I believe that for where he's at in his career, Cain is capable of rising to equal heights. There is a lot of buzz around Valesquez. Every coach or insider who goes to AKA to watch him train comes out completely "WOWed!" Many are calling him the future of the division and state he is excelling at break neck speed.

I can't end this article without mention another HW force that comes from the Brazilian Black House camp. Junior Dos Santos could have likely been the topic of this piece. The man is young, hungry, and hits like a Mack truck. When asked about a title shot, he had previously stated he would concede a title shot if there was any chance at all that Big Nog was involved in title implication fights. So, it's safe to say Jr. has his priorities straight and is a decent human being as well. I'll be honest, the fight I want to see more than any in the world presently is Cain Valesquez and Junior Dos Santos. I almost pissed my pants in excitement just typing the sentence prior to this. That's a fight that will tell us a lot about the state of the division. Dana White, make it happen!

The HW division has become the most exciting MMA division in the past year and a half in my opinion. Fedor remains an enigma, Lesnar helped give the sport more exposure, and the new crop of talent and re surged vets including Carwin, Cain, Dos Santos, Mir etc are painting a very promising future. In the rear view mirror are fighters like Pat Barry and Todd Duffy. Lets not forget, we may get a Fedor vs Barnett or Overeem fight after Werdum as well. The HWs are bringing down the house!

So in closing, it's my belief that Cain Valesquez is going to separate himself from this pack of amazing HWs and is going to skyrocket into a top five pound for pounder in the next two years.

Thanks for reading-

Brewland