In a fight filled with knockdowns, takedowns, and scrambles, the short-lived fight between Chael Sonnen and Fedor Emelianenko was not short on action.  It seemed apparent to me that Fedor had a significant power and weight advantage on Chael in their Bellator, Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinal bout.  The fight ended with Fedor stopping Chael by way of ground-and-pound in the first round.

At the opening of the round Fedor’s power advantage became clear almost immediately, when he dropped Sonnen with a one-two combination within seconds of the round starting.  Shortly after Sonnen got to his feet, he was dropped again by a straight right.  Chael showed a lot of heart after being dropped a few times, and overpowered during some takedown attempts, by getting back to his feet and even securing a takedown on Fedor.  His success was short-lived though, because Fedor was able to get top control out of a scramble and ultimately finish Chael with ground-and-pound at 4:46 of the first round.  Though Fedor is not a large heavyweight, his power and strength advantage over Chael Sonnen was palpable.

According to MMA Fighting.com Fedor will face Ryan Bader in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix on January 26th.