EFN 50: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado
Legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko emerged from a retirement of more than three years this past December and cruised to a first-round TKO of Jaideep Singh in Japan.
His return came after plenty of speculation about where he’d wind up – and the UFC was, naturally, one of the promotions he was rumored to wind up. But Rizin Fighting Federation is where he went to, not the UFC.
But later this month, the UFC will get Fedor anyway – in a roundabout sort of way.
Emelianenko (35-4) will fight UFC veteran Fabio Maldonado (22-9) at a Eurasian Fight Nights event in St. Petersburg, Russia – and that bout, set for June 17, will be streamed on the UFC’s Fight Pass digital network.
That news was slipped in to the UFC 199 broadcast on Saturday night, but clearly wasn’t the biggest news involving the return of a major MMA heavyweight. Brock Lesnar will fight in the UFC 200 co-main event on July 9 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, the promotion announced.
Lesnar’s opponent is set to be announced today on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” After his return was made official, Emelianenko’s name no doubt crossed many fans’ bucket lists again, hoping he’d get the call to fight Lesnar at UFC 200 – fulfilling a wish to finally see “The Last Emperor” in the UFC.
The Fight Pass platform streams many promotions’ live events. EFN is the latest organization in the fold – and it just so happens now the UFC gets Emelianenko, just without having him under contract.
EFN 50: Fedor Emelianenko vs Maldonado - Fedor Returns
