Fedor Emelianenko seems no closer to returning to the Strikeforce cage and a January 29th fight with Antonio Silva is not happening, according to his management.
Evgeni Kogan, an executive with the M-1 Global group, told MMA Junkie that a January 29th appearance is “not on the table” for the Russian former Pride FC heavyweight champion.
That puts paid to rumours that Fedor is set to fight Silva at a Strikeforce event on that date.
Instead, he - or rather, M-1 Global - is still in negotiations with Strikeforce about a new contract. Those negotiations include efforts to get the Showtime network, which airs Strikeforce, to begin airing M-1 Global events.
"We are really hoping that we can finalize things as soon as possible. We have been steadily working toward an agreement. And I think we are closer to it now than we have been in the past," Kogan said, although hard details are thin on the ground aside from the January 29th write-off.
Fedor last fought in June, when he was submitted very quickly by Fabricio Werdum in the first round of their fight. Werdum, who has fought for Pride FC and the UFC, was the heavy underdog going into the fight but pulled off the win without breaking a sweat.
It was the first real loss of Fedor’s remarkable career. The only other loss on his record was a technical defeat for sustaining a cut in a tournament in Japan early in his career. The rules of the tournament required bad cuts to be considered a stoppage loss.
An immediate rematch between Fedor and Werdum was thought to be in the offing but, as has become the case with the Russian these days, things once again became bogged down in “contract renegotiations” and clandestine talks.
Fedor has one fight left on his current deal with Strikeforce and the promotion is keen to sign him for another four to six bouts. Thus far he is 1-1 in the organisation with a win over Brett Rogers and the loss to Werdum.
Fighters Only Magazine - The World's Greatest MMA Magazine - News - Fedor not fighting on Jan 29th, according to M-1 exec
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