After a loss last month to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, there were many questions concerning the future of Russian heavyweight Fedor Emeliaenko (31-3, 1NC), including doubts from “The Last Emporer” himself as he talked of retirement immediately after the loss.
Fedor’s management has since assured the mma world that Fedor would not be retiring, and was just feeling down after suffering the first back-to-back loss of his career.
Now Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has come out saying that the he expects the Russian to make his return for another fight in July against an unnamed opponent.
Speaking on the Sherdog Radio Network on Wednesday, Coker broke the news of Fedor’s return but hinted that the fighters future within the sport would likely hinge on the outcome of this next fight.
“Fedor’s gonna fight sometime in July. It’s probably toward the end of July or mid-July, but we have fights with Fedor that we’re gonna honor and continue forward. We’re gonna do the co-branding exercise that we do with M-1 every time we do fights with them. The opponent has not been chosen, but I think having Fedor involved close to the tournament as an alternate is definitely a possibility…I think this next one’s gonna be very important. He’s gonna have to perform.”