Fedor: I never believed I was the best fighter in the worldhttp://www.mmafighting.com/2011/01/13/fedor-i-never-believed-i-was-the-best-fighter-in-the-world/Heavyweight great Fedor Emelianenko will leave it up to observers and pundits to determine who the No. 1 heavyweight in the world is following the conclusion of the 2010 Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix.
Should the winner of the tournament be ranked higher than the UFC heavyweights?
"That's probably something the specialists and commentators should decide," Fedor said Thursday on a conference call promoting his upcoming quarterfinal bout against Antonio Silva.
Even when Fedor was considered the general consensus No. 1 heavyweight for the many years prior to his loss last June to Fabricio Werdum, Fedor has never been one to rank himself above everyone in his division.
"I never believed I was the best fighter in the world," Fedor said.
Fedor, who is coming off the first "real" loss of his career, says he hasn't done much in terms of altering his preparation.
"Nothing has changed with me," the 34-year-old Russian said. "I trained just as I have trained before. It just so happens that I had made an error in my previous fight. So in training, I've tried to make sure that I don't make that same mistake again."
Fedor says he isn't concerned that future opponents may look to threaten him on the ground with submissions rather than stand with him.
"If people think they've found my biggest weakness, let them try to take advantage of it."