(Yeah, Putin’s gonna get a big kick out of that, buddy. / Photo via hookedonmma)
Nursing a three-fight losing streak following his shockingly unsuccessful run in Strikeforce, Fedor Emelianenko will reportedly return to action against heavyweight veteran Jeff Monson on November 12th in Russia. Monson announced the matchup last night on Twitter, adding that the fight will be promoted by M-1 Global and there will be a press conference on September 16th. (“Putin will be there. Gonna try and get pic with him in my ‘Communist’ t-shirt.”)
Following his unsuccessful UFC title challenge against Tim Sylvia in November 2006, Monson left the UFC to pursue a bout with Emelianenko for BodogFIGHT. Though the match was scheduled for March 2007, negotiations fell apart and Emelianenko wound up fighting Matt Lindland instead.
November 12th is the same date as the UFC’s historic debut on FOX; broadcast plans for ‘Fedor vs. Monson’ are unclear at this point. Monson, whose June decision loss to Daniel Cormier snapped an eight-fight win streak, was previously attached to the main event of W-1′s first U.S. show on October 15th. If anything changes with that fight, we’ll let you know.