What if the 'other guy' in this fight is really Fedor?

Maybe we've been looking at this fight in the wrong way, seeing what we've wanted to see instead of seeing the truth right before our eyes. And this would be a hard truth to miss. This truth stands 6-feet-8, weighs 265 pounds and has a cruel face under a thick mohawk.

How did we miss Tim Sylvia?

Tim Sylvia is 24-4, but has lost two of his past three. (US Presswire)

Fedor is how we missed him. Fedor Emelianenko. The greatest fighter of all time. The king of mixed martial arts, returning Saturday night for his crown. Headlining Affliction's debut MMA show in Anaheim. Fighting another guy, decent fighter in his own right, someone we have been overlooking, someone named ... Tim Sylvia.

If we were bamboozled, it would be explainable. All the way from Japan, where he fought -- or from Russia, where he didn't -- Fedor has overshadowed the sport for the past three years ... even as he was engaged only in sideshows. His most recent "fight" was a December defeat of 7-foot circus act Hong Man Choi. That came eight months after he submitted misguided middleweight Matt Lindland, who jumped two weight classes to take his shot at Fedor. Before that, the past three fighters to lose to Fedor were a chubby kick-boxer (Mark Hunt), a 41-year-old relic (Mark Coleman) and a 390-pound tub of goo (Zulozinho).

Fedor didn't need to fight great fights to remain the greatest name in the sport. He had earned his spot at the top by knocking off the likes of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Kevin Randleman. He beat those fighters, and he beat them badly. But he beat them a long time ago, and in the meantime Fedor has earned his biggest headlines for not fighting, for refusing to sign with the UFC even after it became MMA's undisputed leader by buying out Fedor's Japanese employer, Pride.

Meanwhile, Tim Sylvia was the UFC heavyweight champion, and he was fighting fighters. Real fighters. Legitimate men like former UFC champion Randy Couture, eventual UFC champion Nogueira and an undefeated young wrecking machine many considered to be a future UFC champion, Brandon Vera.

Problem is, Sylvia lost two of those three fights. He dominated Vera in a standup battle, winning a unanimous decision, but that win was sandwiched between losses to Couture and Nogueira. Couture, coming out of retirement and going up in weight class from light heavyweight, schooled Sylvia with savvy and technique to pound out a shockingly easy decision and take his heavyweight belt. Nogueira, the jiu-jitsu master, caught Sylvia in a guillotine choke and finished him off late in the third round of a fight Sylvia had been dominating with his fists.

So Tim Sylvia has lost two of his past three fights. That's the easy way to look at it. Another way to look at it is this: He's 24-4 overall. He has lost only to UFC champions Couture, Nogueira, Frank Mir and Andrei Arlovski. He has beaten Arlovski (twice), Vera, Jeff Monson and former UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez.

Sylvia expects to beat Fedor.

Even if you do not.

A viewer poll on the home page of the Affliction: Banned website shows Fedor favored by a 5-to-1 margin, with roughly 50,000 votes as of Wednesday afternoon compared to 9,500 for Sylvia. Here at CBSSports.com, our five-man poll of MMA experts sees it the same way. Not one of us predicts Sylvia will beat Fedor.

Sylvia doesn't see what we see. He doesn't hear what we hear, either. I know, because I asked him earlier this week.

Me: After all you've done in this sport, what's it like to be the "other" guy in a fight?
Sylvia: I don't see it that way. I'm not the other guy.
Me: You think you have as much name recognition as Fedor?
Sylvia: I think I have more.