Instead it was Emelianenko diving into battle with the speed of a cobra and unleashing a fusillade of punches like a chain gun. All Sylvia could do was fire back and hope for the best. Within seconds, the American heavyweight was on the floor and in another microsecond there was Emelianenko wrapping up his victim in a rear naked choke.

The 13,000 people inside the Honda Center were stunned. 

Sylvia was stunned.

“I went in there trying to stick to my game plan and he got off first. He went in straight away,” said Sylvia with a somewhat amused look. “I’m one of the best in the world and tonight I was amazed at how good Fedor is.

“I don’t even think he’s human.”

Now don’t look for the Russian fighter to gloat. That’s definitely not his style. Walking into the post fight press conference, Emelianenko looked very ordinary, very calm, like one of the ushers inside the arena.

“That’s just the way I approach a fight,” Emelianenko (28-1) said about his calmness. “I try not to think about it too much. I’m human I get nervous.”

Sure.

A number of the best MMA writers in the world gathered to watch the Russian make his first appearance in America. Some watched on television.

“I had Fedor ranked No. 1 for a long time but I knocked him down for inactivity,” said Josh Gross, MMA columnist for Sports Illustrated. “I think I can make the argument for him being No. 1, though both (Silva and Emelianenko) are great fighters.”

Yahoo! Sports expert, Kevin Iole, who watched Silva’s 61-second destruction of Irvin 15 feet away, then viewed Emelianenko’s fight on television, had favored the lightweight fighter BJ Penn on his pound-for-pound rankings. But then he saw Sylvia beaten in 36 seconds.

“He took a really good fighter in Tim Sylvia and obliterated him,” said Iole. “Now I’m going back to Fedor as No. 1.”

Heath Sims, a trainer at Team Quest in Temecula, was hesitant to pick either fighter:

“It’s hard to say. They’re both so skilled and so dominant,” said Sims by telephone on Tuesday. “We haven’t seen much of a weakness in either of them.”

Next up for Fedor: Randy Couture?

“It would be a great honor to meet Randy in the ring one day,” said Emelianenko, 31. “I thought about it a long time.”

CBS/EliteXC on Saturday

Once again, regular television airs an MMA show and once again Ruthless Robbie Lawler defends his EliteXC middleweight title against Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith.

It was a few months ago that both walloped each other before the doctor stepped in and stopped the blood fest. Fans cried bloody murder. So that’s why the two are colliding again on Saturday.

In another title fight, California’s Jake Shields and Minnesota’s Nick “The Goat” Thompson battle for the vacant EliteXC welterweight belt.

“I’ve been fighting for over eight years,” said Shields during a conference call. “To finally be fighting for a world title on CBS is just phenomenal to me.”

The veteran Thompson says the title would be of little consequence unless the opponent is a serious threat like Shields.

“Jake is one of the best in the world,” said Thompson no slouch either. “We’re both very technical fighters.”

Also on the Stockton, California card is hometown fighter Nick Diaz who meets Victorville, California’s Thomas “Wildman” Denny.

The televised portion begins at 9 p.m. ET on CBS.

More upcoming fights

Sat. July 26 – Rage in the Cage 112 at Tim’s Toyota Center in Prescott, Arizona. (866) 443-8849.

Sat. July 26 – EliteXC: Unfinished Business at Stockton Arena in Stockton, California. (866) 373-7088.

Sun. July 27 – Summerfist 2008 at Orange County Fairgrounds in Newport Beach, California. (949) 760-3131.

MORE FROM MMA

MMA Section Front

The best of the best in MMA for 2008 VOTE: MMA year-end awards New Year's wishlist for MMA in 2009 MMA year: Rise (Lesnar, UFC) and fall (Kimbo) MMA photo year in review Evans captures title with TKO over Griffin UFC 92: Griffin-Evans action photos UFC 92: Griffin vs. Evans round-by-round Rampage-Wanderlei III: Repeat or revenge? MMA fighter Eilers shot to death in Idaho MMA Section Front   Add MMA headlines to your news reader: