Following a brutal TKO loss to Dan Henderson on July 30, Fedor Emelianenko‘s (31-4, 1 NC) third straight defeat, “The Last Emperor” was released from Strikeforce and speculation of his retirement was rampant.
However, according to M-1 Global President and co-founder Vadim Finkelstein, Fedor will not be going out like that:
“We consulted with Fedor and it was decided that he should not leave the sport in this way. His friends and past opponents support Fedor in continuing his career and he agreed. We want to organize a fight for Fedor in Russia and have already begun working in this direction. If everything goes as planned, we will produce a card in Moscow or St. Petersburg sometime in the Fall with Fedor as the main event.”
In addition to the fight in Russia, Finkelstein said they are working with their Japanese contacts to organize a New Year’s Eve event in Japan that Fedor would participate in as well.
Fedor’s U.S. fans also have something to look forward to. Finkelstein said if all goes as planned, Fedor will be fighting again on U.S. soil in 2012. And despite the fact Fedor is no longer with Strikeforce, he still has a contract with Showtime who also broadcasts M-1 Global events.
Stay close to ProMMAnow.com (www.prommanow.com) as an opponent, date and location of Fedor’s next bout will be announced in the coming weeks.
Word is that Emelianenko is going to fight another ‘can’ on this Russia card…he might as well retire if he’s going to go this route.
It was a described by Vadim as a “veteran of MMA”. Ken Shamrock?