Fedor's loss on Saturday was his second in a row. This loss was a tough one. His eye was blasted shut with chingasos from a huge man in Silva. While he lost, the fact remains that Fedor survived the punishing round where his eye was hurt. Fedor was dominated that round, but he actually finished the round by going for a submission. He would have come out for round 3, but the fight was stopped due to the eye. Fedor lost, but he wasn't submitted nor was he knocked out.
If the fight would have continued, I don't think Fedor would have had an answer for Silva. Fedor has survived and won against big heavyweights before, but not only is Silva huge (weighed in at 264), he's a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) black belt with an MMA record of 16-2. (Silva's last loss was against the only man to beat Fedor, Fabrico Werdum in 2009)
What was made glaringly clear in this fight was the evolvement of MMA and Fedor's future in the heavyweight division. Fedor dominated the heavyweight division in the Pride organization, but we now know that many of those fighters were not as evolved in the sport as they are now.
Fedor weighed in for this fight at 230 lbs. Competing against Silva made it clear that he can no longer dominate MMA in the heavyweight division. Fighters in MMA are better now, and in the heavyweight division, just too big for Fedor to be dominant. While many might think he's done in MMA, I believe he's not done in MMA, he's done in the heavyweight division.Randy Couture is a great example of how someone about Fedor's weight can cut weight and make the light heavyweight division (205 lbs). I think Fedor still has the skills to dominate, but with the evolvement of fighters in MMA, it will have to be done in the light heavyweight division.
