Fedor Emelianenko
“The best when it comes to the staredown is Fedor Emelianenko. Watch him: he does not make eye contact and his entire expression is extremely relaxed – you would think he is about to perform a ballet or something. But here is the crucial thing. When the referee tells them to head back to their corners, Fedor suddenly darts a short look directly at his opponent – or through his opponent, I should say. This kind of look is associated with antisocial behavioural disorders and psychopaths. They don’t look at you, they look through you. It’s emotionless, it goes deeper than skin level. You will get a lot of fighters who will catch that look and suddenly realise they don’t want to be there. Wanderlei Silva has a stare-down that makes you think ‘this is gonna hurt’, but Fedor’s makes you think ‘s—, I might die’.”
Dr Joe Bell, Pyschologist
Fedor, however, responded to this analysis by stating that this guy has no idea what he’s talking about.
Mike Tyson
“Once I’m in the ring I’m a god. No one could beat me. I walk around the ring but I never take my eyes off my opponent. Even if he’s ready and pumping, and can’t wait to get his hands on me. I keep my eyes on him. I keep my eyes on him. Then once I see a chink in his armor, boom, one of his eyes may move, and then I know I have him. Then once he comes to the center of the ring he looks at me with his piercing look as if he’s not afraid. But he already made that mistake when he looked down for that one tenth of a second.”
