After a pitiful fight against Jaideep Singh on New Year’s Eve, Fedor Emelianenko now only wants to fight the ‘best of the best’.
Speaking to Michael Duarte of Epic MMA, Emelianenko stated despite currently being under contract to Japanese MMA promotion Rizin FF, he would be open to a UFC return.
“I have been asked about the UFC a lot. Our doors are open and we are talking about it. Maybe it will happen in the future.”
This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as Fedor has always been open to joining the Zuffa owned promotion, however for him, timing and/or money has never been right. In 2012, it was speculated that he would join the promotion to face Brock Lesnar, the dream fight never materialised.
The legendary MMA veteran also revealed he would love to rematch ‘best of the best’ UFC Heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum. Both men fought in Strikeforce back in 2010, where Werdum became the first fighter to beat Fedor in 10 years. This would be the start of a three fight losing streak for Emelianenko.
“I would like to have a rematch against Fabricio Werdum. I’ve told the UFC many times that I want and would accept that fight.
“I have nothing to prove but I want to fight the best of the best and I would like to fight UFC champion Fabricio Werdum.”
When asked if UFC 200 could be a possibility, he finished: “If we could make the right arrangements I would definitely fight in the UFC.”
As for Fedor’s next fight, the Russian revealed he will fight in his home country for the first time since his 2012 knockout of Pedro Rizzo in St. Petersburg: “My next fight will be in Russia. I can’t tell you all the details, but I will fight in Russia for my fans. With my whole team who fought beside me last time in Japan.
With the amount of times Fedor mentioned ‘best of the best’ during the interview, we are still looking to confirm whether or not the former Strikeforce fighter had in fact just finished watching Bob Radler’s 1989 martial arts classic. Eric Roberts eat your heart out.
