UFC president Dana White did his best to try and make fantasy superfight Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar become a reality back in 2009.
Unfortunately, it was never meant to be. White said as much in an interview with MMA Junkie.
“Obviously, I would have loved to make that fight with him and Brock at that point in time,” White said. “It would have been awesome. But it obviously didn’t happen.”
Just before then-heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar successfully defended the title against Frank Mir at UFC 100, White was confident Fedor would sign a UFC contract and challenge Lesnar for the belt.
Unfortunately, “The Last Emperor” ended up signing with Strikeforce, where he put together a disappointing 1-3 record.
During his PRIDE run, Fedor was largely considered the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world after going 27-0-1 over the course of a nearly eight-year stretch.
Emelianenko decided to retire after a June 21st knockout of Pedro Rizzo in his homeland of Russia, marking his third win in a row.
Despite never getting a chance to work together, White maintains that he has no hard feelings towards the 35-year-old legend.
“I have nothing against Fedor whatsoever,” White said. “He’s definitely got some hardcore fans, man. I mean the guy can get knocked out four times in a row, and they still think he’s the [expletive] greatest ever.”
Of course, White’s feelings on Fedor’s manager/head of M-1 Global, Vadim Finkelstein, are a little different.
“There’s definitely no hate at all for Fedor,” he emphasized. “It was always his management. Anytime you ever heard me talk, it was about ‘Vadummy’ or the guys who managed his career.”
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