Who is the greatest heavyweight MMA fighter of all time?
It’s not former PRIDE FC champion Fedor Emelianenko, according to UFC President Dana White, because the 40-7 “Last Emperor” — who finished his career for Bellator MMA — never proved himself inside the Octagon and suffered multiple high-profile losses.
Including a July 2011 defeat to Dan Henderson.
“I don’t want to sh*t on the guy, he’s retiring and all that stuff, but you guys know the old interviews with me, I never thought Fedor was that (good),” White said during the UFC Vegas 68 post-fight press conference (via MMA Junkie). “I mean, he got knocked out by middleweight Dan Henderson. I think some of the guys in the business, people liked them, so they praised them. He never got to test himself over here. I never was one of the guys that thought he was one of the greatest of all time.”
The 46 year-old Emelianenko finished his career with a knockout loss to Ryan Bader at Bellator 290 last weekend in Inglewood, Calif., his second loss to the former UFC light heavyweight. 31 of his 40 victories have come by way of knockout or submission.
White remains underwhelmed (mostly because of this).
“What is the guy, like 46? Yeah – he shouldn’t be fighting,” White continued. “But he’s a grown-ass man and he can do whatever he wants to do. But he probably should’ve hung it up a few years ago. I don’t dislike Fedor or anything like that. It didn’t happen. We gave it a shot. You can’t say we didn’t try. We gave it a shot, and it is what it is.”
For more on Fedor’s last stand at Bellator 290 click here.