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Fedor Emelianenko Could Potentially Fight Wanderlei Silva For $2 Million

Legendary heavyweight Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko last competed at EFN 50 on June 17, 2016 against ex-UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado. Heading into the bout, many had expected the 39-year-old Emelianenko to maul Maldonado before potentially finally signing with the UFC after years and years of rumors and negotiations. Then the fight happened, however,

The post Fedor Emelianenko Could Potentially Fight Wanderlei Silva For $2 Million appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Despite walking away with a majority decision, Emelianenko was highly criticized for the victory as many felt as if he hadn’t deserved it. After the fight, talks between “The Last Emperor” and the UFC seemed to die down, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be retiring. In fact, he could potentially fight one more time in 2016.

As of now, the promotion in which Emelianenko will fight for is still unclear, but Bloody Elbow recently reported that the Russian could once again link up with RIZIN Fighting Federation. A report from Russia’s izvestia.ru confirmed this rumor, reporting that Emelianenko could potentially receive $2 million to fight on December 31, 2016. An opponent has yet to be named, but the reports indicated that PRIDE and UFC veteran Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva could be an option.

Silva is most known for his run in PRIDE, but he was most recently seen competing in the UFC back in 2013. In the years since, he has gone through brutal battles with both the promotion as well as the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), but he has been freed from his contract in recent memory.

Would you like to see these two legends square off in the coming months?

The post Fedor Emelianenko Could Potentially Fight Wanderlei Silva For $2 Million appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Maldonado Files A Second Appeal To Overturn Loss To Fedor, Confident He Will Win

https://youtu.be/mbv6u5hJZBE

After initially claiming he wouldn’t, Fabio Maldonado ended up filing an official protest regarding the decision of his fight with MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko at the EFN 50 event in Fedor’s home country of Russia. This …

https://youtu.be/mbv6u5hJZBE

After initially claiming he wouldn’t, Fabio Maldonado ended up filing an official protest regarding the decision of his fight with MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko at the EFN 50 event in Fedor’s home country of Russia. This week, the former UFC contender took things one step further.

Stefano Sartori, who is the manager for Maldonado, spoke with MMAFighting.com just 48 hours after their fight, pointing out that they had appealed the decision to the Russian MMA Union.

Radmir Gabdullin, the Vice President of the Russian MMA Union, who coincidentally enough is a training partner of Fedor’s, released his own statement on the official Russian MMA Union website where he claimed that the decision would not be overturned, and that the appeal was required to be filed within 40 minutes after their fight concluded.

After seeing the statement from Gabdullin, Sartori reached out to the World MMA Association (WMMAA), which oversees the Russian MMA Union, and appealed the result through that channel.

Below is the complete letter that Sartori sent the WMMAA:

Hello.

I am Stefano Sartori, manager of Brazilian MMA fighter Fabio Maldonado and we are writing this email to officially appeal about the result of my client fight against Fedor Emilianenko in June 17 on the Main Event of Fight Nights 50.

We watched the tape many times with cool head and we realized there is no way we lost the fight. It’s either draw or Fabio’s victory. We won R1 with a clear 10-8, not to mention that everyone else in the world besides Official Referee would have stopped that fight. Fedor was tough and came back to won the R2 10-9. The last one is really close and could go either way. So it’s either Fabio’s victory or a draw.

We were extremely surprised to have learned that all the judges of the bout were Russian and they all are employed by no other than Fedor Emelianenko who is the president of Russian MMA Union that sanctioned these judges.

Even worse, Radmir Gabdullin who was the head judge of the bout is the Russian MMA Union’s vice-president. You can see it here http://unionmma.ru/structure/

If it is not a clear case of conflict of interest, I don’t know what to call this. To have a fair judgment of this fight it is required to have independent international judges and that is what we claim with this official letter.

Since mister Gabdullin said to the Russian Press that he would refuse to accept our appeal and considering that we feel that Russian judges would be under too much pressure on this case, we have no other choice but to appeal to World MMA Association that is an umbrella organization with Russian MMA union being part of it.

Before finishing I want to say that I truly believe that Russian MMA Judges haven’t done anything to intentionally harm my client. The conflict of interest, to my eyes, is natural when you judge someone who is personally so close to you. That’s why we respectfully ask for another referee team to watch and judge this fight.

Best Regards,

Stefano Sartori

After receiving the letter from Maldonado’s manager, the WMMAA announced via their official website that they will be appointing a group of “objective international judges” to review the fight in its’ entirety once again. They have also announced that Gabdullin has been temporarily suspended from his position. Sartori went out to explain to MMAFighting.com that there is a “good chance” that the official result of the Fedor-Maldonado bout will be overturned.

The full statement that WMMAA released on their official website regarding the situation can be read in full below.

WMMAA received an appeal request from Stefano Sartori who is Brazilian Fabio Maldonado’s manager. In his appeal mister Sartori asks to appoint an independent judges’ commission that would reassess the results of the bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Fabio Maldonado.

Since all the rights belong to the organizing party of the event, Fight Nights promotion, any reassessment would be made possible if triggered by the promotion in question. However, based on the received appeal, WMMAA’s overall responsibility for positive cooperation within sports community and because the whole issue brought up a lot of negative publicity towards judges of Russian MMA Union which is part of WMMAA, the Association is forced to react and assess both the situation occurred as well as the quality of decisions made by its licensed judges.

Accordingly, WMMAA’s president announces the following sequence of actions:

– appoint Secretary General Alexander Engelhardt responsible for handling of the said appeal procedure;

– appoint a group of objective international judges under the guidance of experienced referee / judge in Marco Broersen (the Netherlands); the group is to assess the fight based on the tape and render an unbiased verdict regarding the fight and the judges’ work.

– temporarily suspend WMMAA’s head judge Radmir Gabdullin from his position.

– discuss judges’ work at the next WMMAA Congress taking into account the pending verdict of the independent commission.

H/T to Brazilian MMA reporter Guilherme Cruz and MMAFighting.com

Maldonado’s Appeal Still Alive After Fedor’s Judge Friend Gets Ousted

Legendary heavyweight Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko was nearly finished in the first round of his main event fight with ex-UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado at June 17’s EFN 50. Emelianenko, bloodied and battered, would ultimately recover and fight back to earn a questionable decision victory. Many had felt as if Maldonado had gotten the

The post Maldonado’s Appeal Still Alive After Fedor’s Judge Friend Gets Ousted appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Many had felt as if Maldonado had gotten the better of Emelianenko, and the situation became ever more skeptical when it was revealed that the referee and judges controlling the fight were from the Russian MMA union, which is headed by non-other than “The Last Emperor” himself.

In the aftermath of the controversial decision, it has been made clear that Maldonado will fight the verdict. Check out the full appeal from the Brazilian slugger below:

Hello.

I am Stefano Sartori, manager of Brazilian MMA fighter Fabio Maldonado and we are writing this email to officially appeal about the result of my client fight against Fedor Emilianenko in June 17 on the Main Event of Fight Nights 50.

We watched the tape many times with cool head and we realized there is no way we lost the fight. It’s either draw or Fabio’s victory.

We won R1 with a clear 10-8, not to mention that everyone else in the world besides Official Referee would have stopped that fight. Fedor was tough and came back to won the R2 10-9. The last one is really close and could go either way. So it’s either Fabio’s victory or a draw.

We were extremely surprised to have learned that all the judges of the bout were Russian and they all are employed by non other than Fedor Emelianenko who is the president of Russian MMA Union that sanctioned these judges.
Even worse, Radmir Gabdullin who was the head judge of the bout is the Russian MMA Union’s vice-president. You can see it here http://unionmma.ru/structure/

If it is not a clear case of conflict of interest, I don’t know what to call this. To have a fair judgement of this fight it is required to have independent international judges and that is what we claim with this official letter.

Since mister Gabdullin said to the Russian Press that he would refuse to accept our appeal and considering that we feel that Russian judges would be under too much pressure on this case, we have no other choice but to appeal to World MMA Association that is an umbrella organization with Russian MMA union being part of it.

Before finishing I want to say that I truly believe that Russian MMA Judges haven’t done anything to intentionally harm my client. The conflict of interest, to my eyes, is natural when you judge someone who is personally so close to you. That’s why we respectfully ask for another referee team to watch and judge this fight.

Best Regards,
Stefano Sartori

Given that Emelianenko has inside connections with the Russian MMA union, it may seem as if Maldonado has no chance with his appeal, but that may not be the case. The World MMA Association, which controls the Russian MMA union, has made a noteworthy decision that should keep Maldonado’s appeal live.

According to a statement, the WMMA, who recently accepted the Brazilian’s appeal, stated that they will be temporarily suspending head judge Radmir Gabdullin from his position. Gabdullin, who happens to be a close friend and former training partner of Emelianenko’s, previously denied the appeal attempt.

Stay tuned to LowKickMMA as more news unfolds on the situation?

The post Maldonado’s Appeal Still Alive After Fedor’s Judge Friend Gets Ousted appeared first on LowKick MMA.

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

The post Top Five UFC Opponents For Fedor Emelianenko appeared first on LowKick MMA.

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).

The post Top Five UFC Opponents For Fedor Emelianenko appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Dana White Confirms Fight Pass Did ‘Very Well’ With Controversial Fedor Fight

Although legendary former Pride FC champion Fedor Emelianenko technically won a majority decision over Fabio Maldonado in the main event of last Friday’s (June 17, 2016) Eurasia Fight Nights (EFN) 50 from St. Petersburg, Russia, the bout was also met almost universally with a shroud of controversy from a large number of both MMA media

The post Dana White Confirms Fight Pass Did ‘Very Well’ With Controversial Fedor Fight appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Many thought the bout, which was the second of Emelianenko’s MMA return after he retired in 2012, should have at the very least been scored a draw after Maldonado, following an early first-round flurry from Emelianenko, scored a huge counter right hand that grounded ‘The Last Emperor’ and left him open for an absolutely vicious onslaught of ground and pound, during which Fedor appeared to be out in more than one instance.

Yet the stalwart face of Russian MMA fought on, somehow rising to extremely wobbly feet and persevering to win the final two rounds with an outpouring of offense on a clearly fading Maldonado. Most felt as if the first round was clearly a 10-8 and perhaps even a 10-7, so 10-9 scores for Fedor in the final two rounds would have made the bout a draw. Yet two of the cageside judges, who were revealed to be a part of the Russian MMA Federation led by Emelianenko, didn’t see it that way, awarding him the majority decision by way of two 29-28 scores.

The fight was a spectacle that has been talked about ever since based on its seeming ability to predict that Emelianenko is no longer at the top of the fight game, and also to supposedly shut a light o the supposed corruption in place in Russian MMA. While those may be valid if somewhat unsubstantiated points of discussion, a bigger point of emphasis may be the bout’s impact on whether or not Fedor finally signs with the UFC.

With Emelianenko recently stating that a UFC signing was ‘closer than ever’ and his EFN 50 win aired on UFC Fight Pass, it would seem that ‘The Last Emperor’ finally making the UFC debut that has been tirelessy discussed for years was becoming a foregone conclusion. While many cast that in doubt after his controversial and some would say lacklsuter win over Maldonado, UFC president Dana White understandably isn’t one of them.

Appearing on the debut episode of “UFC Unfiltered” with former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and comedian Jim Norton, White detailed his view of the bout, noting that the Russian referees were looking for every reason not to stop the fight. He also praised Emelianenko’s chin and heart to rebound from such a beating:

“They were going to let him die before they stopped that fight, you know that?” White said. “But a testament to how tough and durable and mentally strong Fedor is, man. He was out. He was out. Literally, when he got back up … when a guy is on crazy legs the way that he was on crazy legs, and it’s not like he was on crazy legs and able to avoid punches after that. He continued to get hit with bombs by Maldonado and he made it through it.

“But I’ll tell you this: Those refs were willing to let him die before they stopped that fight, No. 1. And No. 2, Fedor’s got a chin and he’s a tough guy.”

White then declared Emelianenko vs. Maldonado a rousing success on UFC Fight Pass, adding that while people may still think he lost, fans still want to see him in the octagon after so many years of rumor, speculation, and letdown:

“We’ve been negotiating for many, many, many years,” White said. “I’ll tell you this: Fight Pass did very well with that fight, so people do still want to watch Fedor.”

So with Fedor still potentially headed for his UFC debut and Brock Lesnar surprisingly making his return at UFC 200, MMA are shockingly closer to witnessing the long-rumored Fedor vs. LEsnar showdown than they ever have been.

True, seven years later they may be out of their physical primes, but to even have that chance right now is a succinct synapsis of the current state of the UFC and the fight game as a whole.

Crazy times we live in.

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Video: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado Highlights From EFN 50

https://youtu.be/_skdncsqQHQ

Although it may not be the greatest summarized indication of the fight, embedded above are some of the highlights from the wild Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado main event from the EFN 50 event in St. Petersburg, Russia this weekend.

The bout has been a highly talked about subject following the wild action from bell to bell, as well as the questionable majority decision ruling that went in favor of the Russian MMA legend.

Below is the MMANews.com recap of the action that went down inside the three round battle that took place on Friday.

In the main event of the evening, MMA legend and former longtime PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko fought in an epic, memorable battle with former UFC contender Fabio Maldonado.

The opening round of the Fedor-Maldonado bout was one for the ages, as Fedor brought the onslaught from the opening bell, only to quickly find himself nearly being stopped by Maldonado. Fedor was dropped and rocked multiple times standing in the round, and took a ton of punishment from Maldonado on the ground as well. Fedor was bleeding profusely, but survived and managed to get out of the first round, which Maldonado won huge.

Things didn’t calm down any in the second round, as both guys were tired, but managed to have another very eventful round. Fedor attempted a flying knee early in the round, which was quite the sight, before connecting and hurting Maldonado with a number of big shots. Things got a lot more competitive in the second half of the round, however.

Finally, what will likely end up being a candidate for Fight of the Year in 2016, Fedor and Maldonado reached the third and final round. Both guys were tired and their faces were a complete mess as a result of the big shots each landed in the first two rounds.

Throughout the majority of the final round, it was Fedor blasting away at Maldonado, seemingly trying to finish the fight to ensure a victory after the hellacious first round he endured. Once again, however, there were several moments where Maldonado landed big shots on Fedor as well. While the fight may not have had a finish, you certainly can’t say both guys didn’t try their hardest to get one.

In the end, it came down to the judges scorecards and despite what most would score as a pretty clear-cut 10-8 first round in favor of Maldonado, apparently the judges felt different. The scores came in 28-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Fedor, giving the MMA legend the victory over Maldonado by Majority Decision.

For Fabio Maldonado’s unfiltered, in-depth take on the fight, click here. For post-fight comments from Fedor, including his plans regarding whether or not he will continue fighting, click here.

https://youtu.be/TxN8Bdmd0wY

https://youtu.be/_skdncsqQHQ

The bout has been a highly talked about subject following the wild action from bell to bell, as well as the questionable majority decision ruling that went in favor of the Russian MMA legend.

Below is the MMANews.com recap of the action that went down inside the three round battle that took place on Friday.

In the main event of the evening, MMA legend and former longtime PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko fought in an epic, memorable battle with former UFC contender Fabio Maldonado.

The opening round of the Fedor-Maldonado bout was one for the ages, as Fedor brought the onslaught from the opening bell, only to quickly find himself nearly being stopped by Maldonado. Fedor was dropped and rocked multiple times standing in the round, and took a ton of punishment from Maldonado on the ground as well. Fedor was bleeding profusely, but survived and managed to get out of the first round, which Maldonado won huge.

Things didn’t calm down any in the second round, as both guys were tired, but managed to have another very eventful round. Fedor attempted a flying knee early in the round, which was quite the sight, before connecting and hurting Maldonado with a number of big shots. Things got a lot more competitive in the second half of the round, however.

Finally, what will likely end up being a candidate for Fight of the Year in 2016, Fedor and Maldonado reached the third and final round. Both guys were tired and their faces were a complete mess as a result of the big shots each landed in the first two rounds.

Throughout the majority of the final round, it was Fedor blasting away at Maldonado, seemingly trying to finish the fight to ensure a victory after the hellacious first round he endured. Once again, however, there were several moments where Maldonado landed big shots on Fedor as well. While the fight may not have had a finish, you certainly can’t say both guys didn’t try their hardest to get one.

In the end, it came down to the judges scorecards and despite what most would score as a pretty clear-cut 10-8 first round in favor of Maldonado, apparently the judges felt different. The scores came in 28-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Fedor, giving the MMA legend the victory over Maldonado by Majority Decision.