Joe Rogan: "Fedor got Exposed"

by Zak Woods on Nov 9, 2009 11:59 AM EST Comment 10 comments

Joe Rogan made his opinion known on the Fedor-Rogers fight saying, "As for the Fedor fight, I thought it was very interesting, but I thought Rogers hesitated, and I felt like Fedor got exposed a bit."

Rogan is not exactly an impartial observer. As the color commentator for the UFC whatever he says about fighters in a rival promotion needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Although Rogan does have carte blanche when announcing it doesn't change the fact that he receives pay checks from Zuffa and Zuffa has an invested interest in delegitimizing Fedor.

WKR discussed this narrative during our latest episode of Cage Cast and there has been some backlash against Fedor due to his performance. Ironically reminiscent of the aftermath of the Arlovski fight.

Luke Thomas of Bloodyelbow does a great job of rebuking this argument,

"...one of the hallmarks of Fedor's remarkable career is his perseverance. It's not that Fedor has some otherworldly ability to never be hit, never be stumbled, never be challenged. In fact, it's quite the opposite. He is often challenged or hurt or put in very compromising positions. He can be cut, rocked, controlled, damaged, scored on. In a very real sense, Fedor is profoundly human and Brett Rogers is hardly the first opponent to discover this.

But that humanity is precisely what gives Fedor his utter remarkability. In a fragile human world and in a game as punishing and unforgiving as MMA, Fedor both succumbs to the frailties of his mortal flesh while always rising above them. Fedor is not perfect; he is just exceptional at never letting his imperfections get the best of him."

I think that sums it up nicely.

SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Emelianenko vs. Rogers

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Rogan has always praised Fedor in spite of being employed by Zuffa. Joe Rogan has even praised fighters that Dana White has a personal beef with. I think he has been impartial for quite a while.

Fedor was exposed but I don’t think it was a big deal. If you’re the taller, bigger fighter you should keep a distance and work the jab. If you’re in a clinch push Fedor against the cage and look for a takedown. Brett Rogers proved that he has a very credible ground game. I don’t think it was a huge surprise. I just wish that Rogers would continue to use the jab through out the fight at different angles . . . like a FREAKING BOXER!!! Anyway, that’s a complaint I have about many MMA fighters, particularly tall fighters that really should watch old Lennox Lewis fights and the Klitschko brothers. Forget Freddie Roach, pay attention to Emmanuel Steward.

I think all the talk about Fedor is human, is really, really stupid when he was already put in trouble a number of times, he has been cut before, rocked before and has had difficulty against a number of fighters. He just always knew how to remain patient and pull out a victory.

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by VeeisAnimated on Nov 9, 2009 12:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

But Exposed Isn't the Right Word

To me, exposed means we learned something brand new and that we couldn’t fathom before hand.

We knew Fedor could get tagged. We’ve seen Fedor bleed. We’ve seen Kaz Fujita rock Fedor to the point of having him wobbly… so nothing Rogers did was breaking new ground.

Rogers was certainly impressive and continued to show the blueprint for having the best success you can have against Fedor – though that seems to be getting a few shots in before catching a shot to the dome and falling asleep – but he didn’t expose anything about Fedor.

The Jon Jones of Mixed Martial Arts Journalism

by E. Spencer Kyte on Nov 9, 2009 12:53 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe they're talking about the GnP?

That’s the only thing I saw “exposed” was him getting ground-n-pounded. I’d never seen anyone do that to him before. Coleman’s the closest I can think of, but I don’t even remember him landing that much. Thoughts of Lesnar smothering him went through my head since he wouldn’t give Fedor as much sloppy space as Rogers did to spin and go for the armbar.

Doesn’t mean Fedor’d lose though. Just more fuel for the “Fedor should fight so-and-so” fire.

by asa on Nov 9, 2009 1:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe...

But Fedor is just too talented and proven for commentators to be tossing around the word “exposed” like he hasn’t rattled off an eight-year winning streak and beaten countless former UFC champions…

The Jon Jones of Mixed Martial Arts Journalism

by E. Spencer Kyte on Nov 9, 2009 2:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Former

I think that’s a big cause of the resistance to accept Fedor. Most of the guys he beat had lost their smiles or weren’t very revered when they were champions, so it’s always been a tough road to respect for Fedor. He’s got sick skills and composure but the only guys he beat in their prime were Nog and CroCop and he couldn’t finish them. So I think there’s still gonna be resistance until he finishes someone in their prime and on top. Then he takes their quickening and all is well.

by asa on Nov 10, 2009 12:19 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

After seeing this fight, there’s no doubt in my mind that Lesnar could, and probably would beat Fedor if they fought in the UFC. Key words, being “fought in the UFC,” where there is a cage and more importantly, there are elbows on the ground. Elbows that would shred the tissue paper that Fedor seems to have in place of skin. Plus, Fedor looked like a fish out of water the minute his back went up against that fence. That makes me understand now why Couture has wanted to fight him. Couture Fedor would probably end up looking like Couture vs Ortiz or Belfort. With Randy pinning him up against the fence for the entire fight.

by Steve W on Nov 9, 2009 9:14 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

luke is right on. part of what makes fedor unbelievable is his ability to overcome obstacles and bad situations during fights and his limitations.

fedor is not someone like Machida or say Floyd Mayweather who people think are untouchable and suddenly got beat up. much like machida vs rua. unfortunately nobody has been able to expose pretty boy, yet.

@mikefareri on twitter.

by sonofapsycho on Nov 9, 2009 2:47 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Jose Luis Castillo

Don’t forget his first fight against Mayweather Jr. Many people felt their first fight was a gift decision for Pretty Boy Floyd. All the experts felt Castillo created the blueprint to beating Mayweather Jr. Oscar De La Hoya tried to work the same strategy against Mayweather Jr.

But they also recognized that Mayweather made all the right adjustments and removed any doubts as to who is/was the superior fighter. Kind of like what Fedor did against Tsuyoshi Kosaka.

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by VeeisAnimated on Nov 9, 2009 2:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs