Fedor reports he plans to retire soon

[Kemal]

Fedor Emelianenko Says He Will Retire After June 21 Fight

"The Last Emperor" is nearing his last days.

Fedor Emelianenko, the Russian heavyweight who UFC president Dana White acknowledges as the only major name that he's never been able to sign, says he will call it quits following his June 21 fight against Pedro Rizzo.

He made the statement in an interview on Russian language television.

Ukrainian MMA journalist Artem Yalanskiy provided MMA Fighting with a translation of the key exchange of the interview.

"My previous fight was in Moscow and my last fight will be in St. Petersburg on June 21st," Emelianenko says. "It will be the last fight in my career."

"Is this your final decision?" the interviewer asks.

"Yes," Emelianenko says, "I think it's time to end my career."
Emelianenko said the primary reason for his retirement is to spend more time with his family, but he also mentioned the mounting toll of injuries from a career spent in MMA and sambo.

The quiet 35-year-old has been one of the controversial figures in recent MMA history by those who have argued his place in the sport. Many believe him to be the greatest heavyweight of all time, while others have suggested him to be an overhyped product of favorable matchmaking.

His heyday, which was undeniably during the early-to-mid 2000s, can hardly be questioned. At that time, he was considered by most observers to be the top fighter in the world after beating standouts like Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman, and most notably, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, who was the top heavyweight prior to him.

He also beat Mirko Filipovic during "Cro Cop's" best days.

By the time PRIDE folded, Emelianenko was the most wanted free agent in MMA, but despite the UFC's rise, the two sides could never come to terms despite multiple negotiations.

Emelianenko lost only once in his first 33 pro fights, and shortly after Brock Lesnar won his UFC championship, UFC president Dana White went on his last recruiting effort for Emelianenko. If he could have signed him, the fight would have likely taken place at the massive, 80,000-seat Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas and certainly would have headlined a blockbuster pay-per-view, but just like every other time the two sides got in a room, they failed to hammer out a deal.

Instead, Emelianenko and his M-1 management team signed with Strikeforce. He won his first fight there, but in his next time out, was upset by Fabricio Werdum, marking his first loss in nearly 10 years. Losses to Antonio Silva and Dan Henderson marked three in a row for him, and he parted ways with Strikeforce.

Since then, he's fought twice, beating Jeff Monson and Satoshi Ishii.

His fight with Rizzo is booked, but it appears to be the last time Emelianenko will ever compete as a professional fighter.

[El Bambino]

Ik heb ergens een dvdtje met als het goed is al zijn gevechten tot dat moment.. dat is volgens mij alles van voor de Werdum wedstrijd. Zal even moeten kijken of ik die voor zover ze er nog niet op staan op youtube kan krijgen.

Zou geweldig zijn!
Sowieso moet er een DVD worden gemaakt van Fedor, de allerbete vechter ooit op dit planeet!

[Niek-S]

Erg jammer, het wordt aangekondigd en nu is het al zijn laatste partij. Ik hoopte nog op een re-match tegen Werdum.
Maar hij blijft de man waarom ik mma zo leuk ben gaan vinden.

[snakerattle79]

By Daniel Fletcher


Fedor Emelianenko will retire from Mixed Martial Arts.


Coming ten years ago to the week (almost to the day) after Naseem Hamed’s retirement, I hereby dub this particular stanza in May “The Black Week of Combat Sports“. Fedor’s career culminating will be an emotional time, as he is one of those rare fighters you follow as a person, look up to, even idolise. I can’t possibly eulogise his in-ring career any better than I did so controversially two years ago, when Zuffa and Dana White intensified their smear campaign on what should be the greatest fighting legacy in combat sports outside of Sugar Ray Robinson. So here it is, albeit edited to be less obnoxious; an objective, truthful, unbiased and unflinching account of what Fedor Emelianenko was and is to the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, and the laughable, preposterous notion that he ever ‘ducked’ the UFC or was in any way inferior or even on par with any of the UFC stars that he supposedly avoided… and it goes as follows; READ MORE