Former UFC heavyweight champion fought out his UFC contract with a submission win over Alexander Gustafsson, and is testing free agency. While he is holding the door open for a UFC return, he has made clear that it is not his first choice. Werdum has, however, been enthusiastic about a rematch with Fedor Emelianenko.

In 2010, in a fight for Scott Coker’s Strikeforce, Werdum broke Fedor’s never to be equaled again 28 heavyweight fights without a loss vs. the best in the sport. With Coker now running Bellator, and Fedor, 44, doing a retirement tour in the promotion, Werdum and his manager Ali Abdelazziz want to offer The Last Emperor a rematch, as he explained to Brazil’s Canal Encarada

[The talks] are really are advanced. Ali went there last week, had the talk, and now it’s a matter of Fedor accepting, said Werdum. And he said the other day in an interview that he wanted to do this rematch as well. Since I have a huge respect for Fedor, I’d definitely give him a rematch — not only for that, but also the financial side, the promotion, the whole history we had.

In my opinion, I still think Fedor is the greatest of all time, you have to respect the man. He’s done a lot of things for 10 years, he beat the best, so I think it would be a fight that everybody would like to see in Bellator, a superfight, a main event. I think it would sell a lot … if Fedor accepts, if he really wants to fight me one more time for this rematch.

And, with all due respect, I firmly believe I will submit him again. I have no doubt. It’s not me being cocky, it’s the reality. That’s what I imagine. It will be a tough, of course. People think the other fight was easy, but how about the one before? Fighting Fedor, the expectation, nobody believing in me, everybody against me and chanting ‘The Emperor’ in the arena. It was tough, of course, because of everything that surrounded it.

With Fedor’s retirement tour delayed by the COVID-19 global pandemic, and Cokers determination that a live crowd get to witness it, if the two fight, it could be Emelianenko’s last fight. Werdum said it could be his own last fight too.

And who knows, I don’t know if it could be the last one, Werdum said. When Fedor retires, I retire, we have a tequila together and it’s over, you know? [Laughs] I don’t know if it could happen.

h/t Jed Meshew and Guilherme Cruz for MMA Fighting