Who will win the Bellator 208 fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Chael Sonnen?
Cole Henry, MMATorch Contributor
I am a Chael Sonnen guy and I will proudly admit that but I just don’t think he has a way to win this fight. Sonnen is a good wrestler but really that’s all he offers at this point in his career and I just think that Fedor has more left in the tank. Sure its possible that Sonnen out wrestlers Fedor and moves into the finals but I think the more likely scenario is that Fedor walks away with a first round TKO victory over The American Gangster. Ryan Bader vs. Fedor Emelianenko for the Bellator Heavyweight Championship would certainly be interesting.
Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor
I don’t think Sonnen has a chance in hell of beating Fedor. Full disclosure, though, I’m a big Fedor fanboy. At the same time, though, Sonnen has been unimpressive recently. He’s fought 3 times in the last 2 years. He’s been smoked by Tito Ortiz and won decisions over Wanderlei Silva and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Silva is a shell of his former self, as is Rampage. Tito is Tito and Sonnen looked really bad against him but that was over a year and half ago so I don’t know. It’s hard to get a real sense of things because we’re dealing with older fighters here. All these guys have slipped from what they were, the question is to what degree?
Obviously, that means that Fedor has slipped as well but you got to take into account the peak of each fighter. Peak Fedor was way beyond peak Sonnen, so a Fedor at 60% should still be able to win. Sonnen never had one-punch knockout power, as that’s not his style, so I expect Fedor to push forward and attack and knock Sonnen out in less than a minute. As I said, I’m a Fedor fanboy but even putting that aside I still think Fedor finishes Sonnen in the first round.
David McGrath, MMATorch Contributor
First of all I really don’t have any interest in seeing Fedor and Chael Sonnen mix it up at this point in their careers. If I had to pick I’d go with Sonnen. Sonnen will ground and pound Fedor to a submission or decision victory.
Sean Covington, MMATorch Contributor
Fedor is gonna put Sonnen to sleep, Sonnen may be slick but he ain’t made of stone. I just don’t see Chael Sonnen’s wrestling being good enough to keep Fedor at bay for long and at this stage in his career, if Chael gasses and Fedor isn’t gassed himself, he’s knocking Chael out.
Michael Hiscoe, MMATorch Managing Editor
Much like with the Mitrione-Bader fight (that I was dead wrong about), I think size wins out here. I can’t see Chael Sonnen being able to impose his wrestling enough to be able to grind out a win. Even with a questionable chin on Fedor, I don’t think Sonnen has the power to hurt him. I’m expecting a rather quick knockout win for Fedor on Saturday night.
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