Fedor Emelianenko: Women Shouldn’t Compete In MMA
Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko is widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all-time, and he recently shocked the MMA world when he announced that at age 38, he would be coming out of retirement.
Since his announcement, the speculation has run rampant as to what organization he would return to, with many fans and fighters hoping that he comes to the world famous Octagon. It was even reported recently that negotiations were underway between the UFC and “The Last Emperor”.
Speaking of the UFC, Emelianenko recently spoke up about dominant women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey at a Q&A (Via Bloody Elbow). “The Last Emperor” noted Rousey’s successes, but also stated that he doesn’t like that the champion misses a lot of punches, which causes her to get hit often:
“To date, [Rousey] stands out as number one in the world rankings,” said Fedor. “But I do not like that she misses a lot of punches, which leads to painful reception. I do not advocate such tactics, especially for women.”
Staying on the topic of women in MMA, Emelianenko continued on, stating that women shouldn’t even be competing in MMA because it’s a “man’s sport”:
“Women shouldn’t compete in UFC/MMA because this sport is for men,” Emelianenko said. “There are a lot of sports where women look like women – like gymnastics, water sports, maybe some athletics. MMA is for men. It’s a man’s sport.”
Women’s MMA has blown up over the past few years mainly due to Rousey, and her unparalleled star power, and I would have to assume that many of the talented female athletes competing in the UFC and other promotions would strongly disagree with Emelianenko’s controversial comments.
Do you agree with “The Last Emperor”? Should women be competing in other sports, or have they proved that they deserve the right to fight?
