Fedor Emelianenko Knocks Out Satoshi Ishii
Fedor Emelianenko returned to Japan on New Year's Eve and earned an easy first-round knockout victory, leveling the Olympic judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii with a right-left-right combination that ended the fight quickly. Fedor's performance in the main event at the Dream New Year's Eve show at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan was impressive, but it also showed just how mediocre a fighter Ishii is: His striking and stand-up defense are extremely rudimentary, and he just wasn't ready for an opponent of Fedor's level. The two had a good exchange in the early going that started with Fedor throwing a kick, Ishii catching it and going for a takedown, a brief clinch and ultimately Fedor knocking Ishii down, and after that it was all Fedor: The Last Emperor had settled in and gotten comfortable, and then he was going to win handily. For Fedor, who left Strikeforce on a three-fight losing streak this summer, the win over Ishii was his second in a row, having previously be...