Fedor Emelianenko is a human being. I know it's easy to forget that sometimes--he is, after all, the most dominant heavyweight in all of mixed martial arts.  But last Saturday night he reminded us that he's not a cyborg;  he's a mere mortal like the rest of us, a man made not of high tech building materials, but of flesh and bone and blood. This is what Andre Arlovski proved in the ring at the Day of Reckoning. It's what Arlovksi "exposed" about Fedor. Right before he went nightly-night at 3 minutes and 14 seconds into the first round. Still, Andre gave hope to the many Fedor haters out there that someway, somehow, somebody will defeat the great Russian champion. I have my doubts about that. Yes, Andre was doing very well by all appearances in the fight.  His boxing under the tutulage of Freddie Roach was outstanding. He was backing Fedor up, disrupting his rhythm.  It even looked like he rocked Fedor in the opening seconds of the fight.  I was on the edge of my seat watching it, because Fedor not only looked human, he looked downright vulnerable against the much larger Arlovsky. But when I watched the replay, I saw a different fight.  Fedor came in very concerned about Arlovski's right hand, that much was obvious; at the beginning of the fight you can see Fedor jump back at Andre's feint.  And every time Fedor threw a punch, he simultaneously tried to get away from any counter right that Andreight throw.  Which made him look awkward and tentative, not like the killing machine that he appeared to be against Tim Sylvia. But Fedor clearly knew that Andre Arlovski was much faster than Sylvia--and was concerned with his speed.  So the first couple of minutes of the fight was Fedor feeling out Arlovski's speed and power and making sure that he didn't get hit with a bomb.  By the third minute, Fedor was starting to get his range and his rhythm, and even though Arlovski sent him back into the ropes with a front kick, he came off the ropes with a devastating right hand that crumpled Arlovski and sent him face down to the mat. Not quite the total destruction that was seen in the Sylvia fight, but damn impressive nonetheless. Still, many people are calling his shot a lucky punch, including Andre's coach Freddie Roach.  If that makes them sleep better at night, then fine. But there was nothing lucky about that shot.  Fedor timed a counter overhand right perfectly and ended the fight with it.  And for people saying that Andre was dominating for the first 3 minutes, well, that's like saying you were pleasing your woman like a porn star--but only for a minute. I mean, if you are going to judge a fight by the first 3 minutes alone, Alistair Overeem would be the greatest fighter of all time.  But obviously there's more to a fight than just the first 3 minutes. Fact is--despite what Freddie Roach says--Fedor dominated the stand up.  Because he was the only one standing up at the end of the fight. So yes, Fedor is human.  He's just a man.  But when he fights, he's a man against boys.  And there's no one on the planet that can beat him right now.

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