Will Fedor keep crumbling or reestablish his myth?

Fedor Emelianenko is, unquestionably, the Babe Ruth of mixed martial arts. From 2001 through 2009, there was a better chance the sun would rise in the West than there was Emelianenko losing a fight.

He beat big guys and small guys, strikers and wrestlers and black belts, all styles, all comers. He won 27 fights in succession, defeating five former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholders along the way.

Like Ruth had done in baseball, he was a young sport's dominant star and became an almost mythical figure.

Reality, though, has a way of interrupting these feel-good stories. In his final four games as a Major League Baseball player, the legendary Ruth went 0-for-9 with five strikeouts.

And in his last two fights, Emelianenko has been finished in both while going 0-2. He clearly needs a victory over Dan Henderson on Saturday in the main event of a Strikeforce card on Showtime at the Sears Center in Hoffman Estates, Ill., to quell thoughts that he's just about reached the end of the line.

He was armbarred by Fabricio Werdum and then stopped by Antonio "Big Foot" Silva, a fight in which he was pummeled so badly that his eye was grotesquely swollen and he said in the ring that he probably would retire.

He later reconsidered and accepted a fight against Henderson, a two-time Olympic wrestler who, despite holding the Strikeforce light heavyweight title, still insists his best weight is 185 pounds.

Another loss wouldn't necessarily send Emelianenko to the unemployment office – heck, former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz went five years between wins and now is just a bout away from fighting for the belt – but it won't help.

[Related: Dan Henderson is 'ready to go']

Even though UFC president Dana White has taken a hands-off approach to Strikeforce, you know White still plays a key role, if not the key role, in the direction of the company. And if Emelianenko loses on Saturday, don't you think White would relish the opportunity to hand a pink slip to Emelianenko’s manager, Vadim Finkelchtein, with whom he has feuded so bitterly over the years?

Henderson, of course, is trying to sell the fight and so he said the prospect of fighting arguably the greatest MMA star who ever lived has proven extremely motivating. He's a legend in the sport himself and has been in with the likes of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Rich Franklin, and Wanderlei Silva.

But he insists he'll be primed for battle because of who he is facing.

"I don't think Fedor is just another name," Henderson said. "It definitely excites me for the opportunity to be able to fight him."

If Emelianenko feels the pressure of reversing his losing streak, if he feels like he will be fighting for his job on Saturday, he's doing a good job of hiding it. The legendary Russian heavyweight is as placid and unflappable as ever.

Eleven years into his career, no one really knows the guy well, what motivates him and what concerns him. He trains in a distant region of Russia, away from the spotlight, and barely utters a word in public.

"Everything is just as before," Emelianenko said. "We prepare and train just like we have, the same as before."

Henderson dismissed Emelianenko's losses as part of the business and, indeed, losing in MMA generally isn't that big of a deal since virtually everyone loses.

[Related: No-win situation for Fedor?]

Henderson said he thought size was a factor in the Silva fight and that Emelianenko was sloppy against Werdum and left his arm exposed. "I watched both of those," Henderson said. "And, you know, I felt he seemed like he got … against Werdum, he got a little cocky with his submission defense, like he thought he wouldn't get submitted. But, you know, everybody can get caught. "With Silva, I think he was a little bit out of shape, and the size definitely got to him. Silva just hung out on top of him and didn't let him move that whole second round."

Emelianenko has been a fierce competitor and it has to stick in his craw that he's lost back-to-back bouts. There is little question that for no other reason than personal pride he'd love to manhandle Henderson and stop the talk of his decline.

If he's going to retire, he wants it to be on his terms. But he'll have to be a reasonable facsimile of the old, fearsome Emelianenko.

If he's unable to summon up his past greatness, though, then arguably the greatest career in MMA history will come to an end on Saturday.

It's all in Emelianenko's hands now. And as has always been the case with him, it's virtually impossible to tell what he's thinking or how he's feeling.

The mystery will be solved around 11 p.m. local time on Saturday. And only then will we know whether those back-to-back losses were an anomaly or a sign of Emelianenko's career-ending decline.

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