Fedor Emelianenko will return to action in June, but it won’t be in the UFC.
Following a week of speculation about where “The Last Emperor” will end up next, Evgeni Kogan, M-1 Gloval director of operations, announced Friday afternoon that Emelianenko will fight on June 21 at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. Emelianenko’s opponent will be announced at a later date.
Emelianenko (33-4, 1 NC) has gotten back on the winning track after losing three straight fights in Strikeforce in 2010-11. He snapped his losing streak by defeating Jeff Monson via unanimous decision in Nov. 2011 and then knocked out Satoshi Ishii on New Year’s Eve in Japan.
Late last month, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta tweeted that he would be open to negotiating with Emelianenko if M-1 Global dropped its co-promotion stipulation, but UFC president Dana White quickly put an end to that talk when he said that he was not interested in signing the Russian fighter under any circumstances.
The 35-year-old Emelianenko tweeted on Thursday that he was training in Holland.
“Spring weather, the mood of combat, begin the training process,” he wrote.