Don’t tease us so, Fedor.
He may have passed on the opportunity to fight inside the Octagon (yet again) when he signed with Japanese promotion Rizin FF, but Fedor Emelianenko is still leaving the door slightly open for a potential run with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
That’s because as he declared during a recent interview with EPIC MMA (via Fox Sports), “The Last Emperor” wants to get one back against current UFC Heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.
“I have nothing to prove, but I want to fight the best of the best and would like to fight UFC champion Fabricio Werdum,” he said. “I have been asked about the UFC a lot. Our doors are open and we are talking about it,” he continued. “Maybe it will happen in the future.”
Fabricio ended Fedor’s decade-long unbeaten streak via submission under the Strikeforce banner in 2010. Following that defeat, Emelianenko went on two loss two more times to Antonio Silva and Dan Henderson.
Currently on a four-fight win streak, Fedor return to mixed martial arts (MMA) last December after a three-year hiatus, taking out Singh Jaideep under the RIZIN banner.
And though he still has plans to continue fighting for the upstart promotion, Fedor says he is still willing to step foot inside the Octagon as long as a fight against Werdum is on deck.
It’s something the Russian-born fighter has expressed to UFC numerous times.
“I would like to have a rematch against Fabricio Werdum,” he said, again. “I’ve told the UFC many times that I want and would accept that fight.”
Anyone still have a little bit of hope that perhaps the greatest Heavyweight of all time will eventually fight inside the Octagon.