Fedor Emelianenko at his last official MMA fight against Pedro Rizzo
Fedor Emelianenko, 38, will be coming back to MMA in the near future.
Said to be retired since his last fight on June 2012 (KO win over Pedro Rizzo), the Last Emperor announced earlier this week that it’s time to compete again.
“It’s extremely important for any athlete to do what you love, to work out during training sessions and to prove yourself in competition, while representing your country. I’ve been working at the ministry of sport and I have managed to help with the development of martial arts. I have helped out sports federations and have learnt about problems in our sport and tried to solve them as best as I could. Now I feel it’s high time to get back into action,” said Fedor in a statement released this Tuesday.
The Russian did not disclose in which MMA event he’ll be fighting or when the comeback fight will take place.
In the past years, he had a relationship with Bellator MMA, taking part in several promotional events.
The announcement of the return of the man most people consider the best MMA fighter of all times understandably created a lot of reactions within the MMA community.
The MMA fan base mostly cheered the news.
UFC’s President, Dana White was cautious when asked about Fedor: “Let’s see what happens. Let’s see how this thing plays out.”
Heavyweights Andrei Arlovski and Frank Mir immediately expressed the desire to fight Emelianenko.
Fedor retired from MMA with a professional record of 34-4.
