Pride legend Fedor Emelianenko is in contract negotiations to face off with former Strikeforce heavyweight Bobby Lashley.
“The guy’s got a tremendous amount of fights under his belt…I’d like to fight him,” Lashley said about “The Last Emperor” in an interview with Fighters Only.
Lashley says that his name is on a short list of potential opponents, and he likes how he matches up with the fighter who went nearly a decade without losing a fight.
“I think that my wrestling would trump some of the things that he has,” Lashley said.
While he is no spring chicken at 35 years old, the hulking heavyweight still wants to fight the elite opponents MMA has to offer.
“I wanna fight the best, so if I have an opportunity to fight Fedor, let’s do it. If I have an opportunity to fight anyone right now let’s just damn do it.”
“I know he’s a great fighter, but if I fought him then of course I’m going to try and wrestle him down… If it was Dave [Bautista], I’m standing and banging with him. I’ve been doing a lot of boxing,” he added.
Bautista, Lashley’s fellow former WWE star, has been rumored to be a future MMA opponent of Lashley for some time now. While the fight has yet to materialize, Lashley still expressed interest in the possibility.
“I know a lot of people are looking at that fight and saying I shouldn’t take it, but that’s the entertainment aspect of [MMA]. If the wrestling fans want that then it’s an opportunity for me to have a fight, which will probably warrant a good amount of money… I’ll take that fight, no
problem.”
Lashley made his MMA debut in December of 2008 when he scored a TKO over Joshua Franklin, and has since beefed-up his record to 7-1.
His sole loss came at the hands of Chad “The Grave Digger” Griggs at Strikeforce: Houston in August 2010.
Meanwhile, Emelianenko looked to be on the brink of retirement after dropping three Strikeforce bouts in a row and being cut from the promotion last year.
However, he returned to the independent scene and is riding a two-fight win streak with consecutive victories over Jeff Monson and Satoshi Ishii.
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