Khabib Nurmagomedov Names His All-Time Fantasy Fight

Khabib NurmagomedovThere’s perhaps nothing MMA fans love to do more than play fantasy match-maker, and it appears Khabib Nurmagomedov is no different. In an interview with MatchTV, the UFC lightweight champion was asked what the one fantasy fight he would love to see was. With endless possibilities to choose from, Nurmagomedov went with one of the […]

Khabib Nurmagomedov

There’s perhaps nothing MMA fans love to do more than play fantasy match-maker, and it appears Khabib Nurmagomedov is no different.

In an interview with MatchTV, the UFC lightweight champion was asked what the one fantasy fight he would love to see was. With endless possibilities to choose from, Nurmagomedov went with one of the great ‘What-Ifs” of the sport (H/T BJPenn via Lenta).

“If just a fantasy, then I would take Brock Lesnar — a heavyweight. And it would be possible to make him a fight with Fedor Emelianenko in Russia,” Nurmagomedov said. “It would be interesting to organize a fight between the stars of Russian and American MMA. By the way, anything can happen.”

In their primes, Lesnar and Emelianenko were regarded as the greatest heavyweights on the planet. Lesnar was a former All-American wrestler in university, who came into the world of MMA after a lengthy run in professional wrestling. After coming up short in his UFC debut, he would go on to eventually beat Randy Couture for the title and defend it multiple times. His dominance combined with his celebrity from his time with the WWE made him one of the biggest stars in UFC history. Emelianenko went on an unprecedented 28-fight unbeaten streak while competing for Rings, Pride, Affliction and Strikeforce in the early-2000s. Often the smaller man, ‘The Last Emperor’ used his background in sambo to overcome the size deficit and become regarded as one of MMA’s all-time greats. UFC president Dana White reportedly tried numerous times to sign the Russian superstar during Lesnar’s run as heavyweight champion, but alas, it was never meant to be.

With his fighting career seemingly behind him, Khabib Nurmagomedov will have plenty of time to act as an actual matchmaker for his upstart Eagle Fighting Championship. He has said he hopes the promotion can serve as a launchpad for fighters to the UFC.

Who would win between Lesnar and Emelianenko? What is the one fight you would like to make?

Report: Fedor vs. Cro Cop Rematch Happening In September

For two of the most well-known veterans in mixed martial arts, Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic, it’s been a long journey fraught with staggering highs and deep lows. Fedor started his career as an unknown Russian mainly fighting on Japanese soil. His only loss up until 2010 was a TKO due to a […]

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For two of the most well-known veterans in mixed martial arts, Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic, it’s been a long journey fraught with staggering highs and deep lows. Fedor started his career as an unknown Russian mainly fighting on Japanese soil. His only loss up until 2010 was a TKO due to a cut, a loss that he’d avenged by demolishing Kohsaka in 2005. Leading in to his first real loss as a professional to Fabricio Werdm in 2010, ‘The Last Emperor’ touted an unmatched 31–1 (1) record.

The consensus opinion on Fedor at the time was he was the greatest of all time, the most dominant fighter of his era and king of the heavyweights. It came as a huge shock when Werdum submitted Emelianenko in the first round of their Strikeforce battle, and the following losses to Dan Henderson and Bigfoot Silva sent Fedor back to Russia and somewhat lower calibre opponents. Three straight wins over Jeff Monson, Pedro Rizzo and Satoshi Ishii saw ‘The Last Emperor’ call it quits in 2012.

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Arguably one of the greatest kickboxers to ever live and the most feared pure striker from the Pride FC era, Mirko Cro Cop shared an eventful rivalry with Fedor. Knocking out his younger brother Alexander, Cro Cop set up a fight of the century with Emelianenko at Pride Conflict 2005. Fedor would win in one of the most exciting fights the promotion ever put on, and Cro Cop would go on to experience a serious drop in form following his 2007 signing to the UFC.

A number of hard losses would see Cro Cop announce is retirement from MMA in 2011, only to return to kickboxing and win the 2012 K-1 world GP. A 2015 return to the UFC was short-lived, as Cro Cop avenged his loss to Gabriel Gonzaga with a thrilling TKO in Poland, only to become embroiled in a strange situation with USADA. Now both men are once again back in action, and are reportedly on a collision course for September.

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Fedor’s recent shambles of a fight against Fabio Malonado and victory over the biggest can possible Jideep Singh came as huge disappointments to his fans. He is now heavily rumoured to be fighting Mirko Cro Cop at Rizin FF this coming September 25. As per Cro Cop’s Facebook page:

Rizin FF recently announced their 16-man tournament for later this year, Mirko Cro Cop was granted a by for the first round, automatically advancing to the quarter finals. The openweight tourney will also feature former Pride FC champion Wanderlei Silva.

Worth noting is that this will be the first opponent of any real calibre that Emelianenko has faced since 2011. It seems that the rumours of Fedor signing to the UFC are once again just that. Any interest?

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Top Five UFC Opponents For Fedor Emelianenko

Heading into his most recent fight at EFN 50 last Friday (June 17, 2016), legendary heavyweight Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko was reportedly “closer than ever” to signing with the UFC. But then the fight took place, and the situation became quite a bit cloudier. Perhaps unsurprising to many, a 38-year-old Emelianenko simply looked like

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Heading into his most recent fight at EFN 50 last Friday (June 17, 2016), legendary heavyweight Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko was reportedly “closer than ever” to signing with the UFC.

But then the fight took place, and the situation became quite a bit cloudier.

Perhaps unsurprising to many, a 38-year-old Emelianenko simply looked like a fighter far past his prime, and he certainly didn’t look like the version of himself that was considered to be the very best heavyweight of all-time who went nearly ten years without surrendering a defeat.

Taking on a much smaller Fabio Maldonado, Emelianenko was bloodied, battered, and nearly finished early before recovering and fighting back to secure a highly questionable majority decision. In the aftermath of the bout, many were calling for the Russian legend to retire, and it appeared as if far less fans wanted to see him finally compete under the UFC banner.

While it’s clear that his skills aren’t where they once were, the UFC is a business, and Emelianenko is and always has been a huge draw. UFC President Dana White even said that his fight, which was broadcasted live on UFC Fight Pass, did very well from a ratings standpoint.

Emelianenko’s future with the UFC is unclear, but it’s quite an interesting time to look at the top five UFC opponents for “The Last Emperor” if he were to indeed sign with the promotion (listed in no particular order).

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Five Opponents For Brock Lesnar To Fight At UFC 200

The madness of last night’s (Saturday June 4, 2016) UFC 199 event has still not set in. The middleweight championship changed hands yet again as Michael Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold in a massive upset, and then of course there were the ground breaking announcements made during the event. Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2

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The madness of last night’s (Saturday June 4, 2016) UFC 199 event has still not set in. The middleweight championship changed hands yet again as Michael Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold in a massive upset, and then of course there were the ground breaking announcements made during the event. Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 was confirmed for UFC 202, much to the dislike of the featherweight division, and also Brock Lesnar made a special appearance.


The chilling promo for UFC 200 blew everyone’s minds, including UFC commentator Joe Rogan. It seems that Lesnar’s UFC return is quite possibly the best kept secret in the promotion’s history. So what are we to make of this? According to a report on Sherdog, Lesnar’s UFC return is a ‘one off opportunity,’ as he’s still bound by contract to the WWE.

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So many questions arise in the wake of this huge news, but most relevant is whom Lesnar will face in his return to fighting. Does the promotion go with a top level heavyweight, knowing that name value alone will bring in the big pay-per-view numbers at UFC 200, or do they look at a more ‘winnable’ fight for the 39-year old pro wrestling superstar? Although he’s tied to the WWE, that’s not to say the wrestling entertainment promotion wouldn’t sell out his employ for the right number.

On to the five possible opponents for Brock Lesnar to fight at UFC 200…

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Cain Velasquez

The hard hitting Mexican heavyweight first won the belt with a brutal destruction of Brock Lesnar at UFC 121. The overmatched wrestling ace got beat down hard, eventually succumbing to a bloody barrage of punches and hammerfists at the end of round one.

The loss marked the beginning of the end for Lesnar as a fighter. After taking 14 months off for stomach surgery, the gigantic heavyweight was made to look tiny by Velasquez’s beating, one that must still hurt to this day.

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