After suffering just his third loss, and second in a row, in a career that has includes thirty-four bouts, Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko has taken off for Holland to prepare for his next fight. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker has confirmed that “The Last Emporer” will fight in July against an unnamed opponent.
This is the first time in many years that Fedor has left his home in Stary Oskol, Russia to train. Now a report from MMA-Japan.com has confirmed with sources close to M-1 that former “The Ultimate Fighter” season 8 finalist, Vinny “Pezao” Magalhães (7-5, 1 NC), will join Fedor in either Holland or Russia to train.
Sources close to M-1 have confirmed to MMA-JAPAN that TUF veteran and recent M-1 Global signee Vinny Magalhaes has in fact been invited to help The Last Emperor sharpen his jiu jitsu skills. Magalhaes will join Fedor in either Russia or Holland (destination TBD). The addition of Magalhaes to Emelianenko’s camp should be very beneficial to the Russian pound for pound great. His ground game has been his Magalhaes is coming off a successful M-1 showing where he made quick work of Jake Doerr. Emelianenko will return to the cage this summer, likely in July, against an opponent to be decided.
Magalhães is a noted Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who has won many championships in the sport, including the 2007 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship (no gi), as well as taking Bronze in two categories at the 2009 ADCC championships. The Brazilian made his UFC debut as a member of Team Mir in the shows Finale, losing to Team Nogueira fighter Ryan Bader. He would go on to lose a second straight bout against fellow cast member Eliot Marshall at UFC 97 ending his time with the UFC.
Currently Magalhães earned his third straight win on Friday night on the Showtime televised card of the M-1 Challenge 24 event in Norfolk, Virginia.