Fedor's loss not end of the world

The UFC loyalists are having their moment. Fedor Emelianenko, the mythic Russian heavyweight who was unbeaten over the last eight years and held the position of top heavyweight in the sport was defeated. All those who have long doubted Emelianenko’s dominance are screaming, “I told you so.” And the reaction is both warranted and unnecessary.

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In absolute terms, this loss means very little. Everyone loses. Georges St-Pierre was put on his backside by Matt Serra, a far bigger underdog than Fabricio Werdum, the fighter who will go down in history as the man to have beaten the seemingly unbeatable Emelianenko. At the same time, this loss means everything; a massive blow for the argument that the UFC isn’t the be all and end all of mixed martial arts and quality competitors can exist out from under the Zuffa umbrella.

Yes, Fedor Emelianenko lost. It sucks, especially for those of us who believe “The Last Emperor” to be the greatest fighter in the history of this sport. We’re going to be forced to listen to countless catcalls about the overrated Russian who lost to a “can,” despite the fact that said can was the top-rated heavyweight whose loss launched the career of UFC contender Junior dos Santos.

In truth, this loss is actually less incredible than Anderson Silva’s submission defeats to Ryo Chonan and Daiju Takase. Fedor lost to a top 10 heavyweight, while Silva was beaten by Japanese journeyman who never amounted to much. The rub is that Silva’s success has come in the UFC, while Fedor’s loss came outside of the top organization in the business, and that makes all the difference.

Silva’s losses came before he was the UFC middleweight champion and arguably the best fighter on the planet; essentially, no one knew who he was and no one cared. But Emelianenko is different. He was the white whale of the UFC and now, Captain Ahab can claim brilliant success for not signing Fedor, as if he had no desire to do so all along.

The problem -- for Emelianenko fans and those who understand that there is life outside of the UFC vacuum -- is that this win gives legitimacy to the argument that life in fact does not exist outside of the UFC. Fedor was the last bastion of hope that proved the UFC didn’t have a complete monopoly on the talent market and that someone other the UFC heavyweight champion could be the top heavyweight in the world.

Those plans have been dashed now.

While Werdum is a top 10 heavyweight and everyone knew going in that the ground was a dangerous place for Fedor to venture, the spin will be that Emelianenko lost to a substandard opponent, thereby signifying that any future meetings with the top UFC heavies would result in sure defeat. Perception is reality, and the perception is now that Brock Lesnar and/or Shane Carwin are the best heavyweights in the world.

It’s true and untrue all at once, and no matter what happens from here on out, nothing will change that.

Ten months ago, Lyoto Machida was the best light heavyweight on the planet. As of April 10, B.J. Penn was the unquestioned top lightweight in the world. They each lost their next fights, yet no one is ready to cast them into oblivion as overhyped, Eastern European creations of an organization long since dead.

But that is the fate that awaits Emelianenko.

When your mystique is tied to your unbeatable aura and string of success, a loss is more than a loss; it’s an indication that everything you ever did was overvalued and nothing you did mattered at all.

Except it’s not at all true; everyone loses, and now that includes Emelianenko.

In the real world, it’s nothing more than a loss. But in the overcritical, not-entirely-realistic world of MMA fandom, a whole bunch of people who always doubted Fedor’s dominance were just given their “I told you so” moment, and they plan on enjoying it for quite some time.