Russian mixed-style fighter, former Bellator heavyweight champion Vitaly Minakov believes that the fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Ryan Bader will largely depend on the strategy the Russian chooses for this fight.
The fight between Emelianenko and Bader will take place on February 4 in Inglewood (USA). The first meeting of the fighters, which took place in January 2019, ended with the victory of the American by knockout in the first round.
– Can Fedor finally slam the door? Maybe strong enough. The question is what idea Fedor has. In recent years, we have become accustomed to seeing him almost exclusively as a forward, he focused on hitting. We know Ryan Bader can punch, but he relies more on his wrestling class.
We know from Fedor’s career that he is a versatile fighter. How ready he is today to fight universally at the level he did before is a question. Of course, he will be able to beat in the pit – he has quite fast hands and he will be able to perform long multi-part combinations.
I think Bader will try to transfer Fedor to the floor. He fully understands by himself that Fedor has quite heavy blows, it is dangerous to hack with him in a standing position. Therefore, I’m sure Bader will use his strong side – wrestling. And not just fight, but keep Fedor on the ground, or dominate the net, work as the first number. He understands that the functional state of Fedor is hardly close to the top, so his task will be to exhaust the opponent, to prolong the fight in the last rounds.
Despite the fact that Fedor fights quite well and feels the fight very well, the question of his condition remains. The wrestle functionality, for a slimy and prolonged fight, and the batter functionality are completely different tasks. If Fedor relies only on the stand, then he must very clearly defend himself from the fight,” Minakov told Gazeta.Ru.
In total, Emelianenko has 40 wins and six losses in MMA, Bader has 30 wins and seven losses.
Journal.ru
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
