To give my opinion...

It's tough because Fedor is so well rounded, although his striking isn't the best he has heavy hands, he has good takedowns and is very competent with submissions.

I feel his biggest weakness is his striking, the problem is that he either when he is losing those sort of battles he is then able to take it to the ground and pull something out of nowhere.

There are certainly fighters that are capable of beating him on the ground, but they would tend to be smaller fighters who have no chance of standing and trading with him and who would also be very susceptible to his ground and pound.

Bigger fighters who are better at striking tend to be weak on the ground and in the past have generally been finished quickly and convincingly.

I think Barnett is similar in that he is well rounded, like Fedor he has heavy hands, is a great wrestler and has good submissions, however I do think mentally he has already been beat by him.

Mir has the ground game to compete with him and showed great stand up in his last fight but it was against an aging Nogueira who looked a shadow of his former self.

If Lesner improves his BJJ (and his defence against it) he could certainly prove to be a threat and I think the winner of the fight between himself and Mir would definately provide the toughest competition Fedor has faced in a long time.

Anderson Silva has a great all round game but I fear he is just a little to small to deal with his power and although he could bulk up close to the weight needed, this would be of detriment to his best best assests i.e. Speed and striking.

I think Machida would run rings around him standing up but hasn't shown he has the chin to withstand the punishment Fedor would dish out on the ground, nor the BJJ he is reputed to be very skilled at.

The most interesting match up for me would be Royce Gracie who has an innate ability to dictate where the fight will take place (and that's never standing up), and whilst on the ground he might well be outsized he has proved so often in the past that this isn't the greatest of issues for him, he keeps fighters close which would negate the ground and pound. He might well frustrate Fedor into making errors and despite his age there are few better at exploiting them.

I don't think anyone would come into the fight as favourite against Fedor, but he is far from unbeatable.

In all honesty, I'm not his biggest fan. I feel he has been very strategic in the fights he has taken, fighting too rarely and against poor opposition on many occasions.

One question mark I would raise is his ability to fight in the octagon, something he has never done. He seems comfortable in the ring and as many fighters have proven in the past, the transition can be difficult and take time. I wouldn't be surprised to find this was one of the reasons he has been so reluctant to fight in the UFC and I also believe his preference for the ring has large bearing on Afflictions use of it at their events.

...just my opinions though, let me know whether you agree or disagree and any thoughts you have!

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Strike First - Strike Hard - Show No Mercy