Last minute replacements are always dangerous. Fedor has been preparing for weeks (months?) to fight Barnett, a wrestler with lots of leg and arm locks, plus slow but heavy hands. Now he's fighting a much faster fighter with good boxing and a Gracie black belt who's only been submitted once. Think Belfort (+500) can do it?
Belfort is too small, IMO. With Fedor's weight advantage, he should be able to pound the fuck outta him. Also, Belfort has been training for a different opponent as well. If Fedor avoided Big Nog's subs, he should be able to avoid Belfort's. It does suck for Fedor and he shouldn't be obligated to take this fight, but he has to for any hope of Affliction staying alive. But dude is a warrior and is game, so he'll take the fight and I expect him to fully own Belfort. If he loses, Dana will blast the fuck outta him, but I think most everyone will understand that he trained for Barnett, not Belfort.
not a chance. Fedor's been hit by bigger guys and he's taken down and controlled bigger guys. He's going to strike with Belfort for a bit and if belfort is too fast, he's going to put him down and pound on him until a submission presents itself and he'll pounce on it. This only goes past the 1st round if Belfort is sticking and moving and able to stay away from Fedor's clinch game.
I wonder how Dana will react once Belfort loses. He's been clamoring about how Fedor hasn't beaten anyone good in a long time and now hes probably gonna pound the shit outta a guy that Dana wanted to sign to fight Anderson Silva. Something about how Belfort is smaller will come into play. Belfort has fought at HW before right? when he fought Couture, that was at HW?
