Fedor Emeianenko is the greatest heavyweight in MMA history, with a win streak that will never be equaled in the division. Then he fought time in an advancing sport, and lost three in a row. Then he won three in a row against lesser competition, and retired.
Fedor went out right; very few in combat sports ever do.
Then rumors surfaced that Fedor was returning.
“Fedor wants to fight against the best athletes,” said his long-time manger, M-1 Global president Vadim Finkelchtein. “I know his fans want the rematches with Werdum, [Bigfoot] Silva, Henderson,” he said.
Fan expectations were high.
There was a dull, throbbing worry when it was announced he had signed to fight in Japan. The new organization is headed by Nobuyuki Sakakibara, allegedly the former front man for Mr. Ishizaka (Kim Dok Soo), the mob boss who had allegedly acquired control of PRIDE. PRIDE had some of the greatest matchups in MMA history, and they had some of the greatest freakshows. Which way would this one go?
Sakakibara himself addressed the potential match up.
“We would like to select a fighter who will mean something for the future of mixed martial arts,” he said.
Then Ariel Helwani reported that Fedor would be fighting kickboxer Jaideep Singh, 29. The Indian-Japanese heavyweight is 1-0 in MMA, having beaten Alireza Tavak via elbows in the first round. The 5′ 8″ Tavak was 0-1 going into that fight, and has not fought since.
Singh is 40-10 in kickboxing, with one No Contest. He had not won in kickboxing since 2011, and was on a three-fight losing streak.
Then it was said Singh was not in good enough shape to take a fight with Fedor.
Now, just two weeks from fight night, there will be a live press conference announcing the opponent, beginning at 10:15 pm ET/7:15 pm PT.
The fight will be the culmination of a three day “Fight Expo” at the Saitama Super Arena and Keyaki area running 12/29, 12/30, 12/31.
