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On January 26th, Bellator MMA will provide fans of the sport with another slice of history, as the great Fedor Emelianenko faces off against Ryan Bader in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix, with the vacant Bellator Heavyweight title on the line.
It’s a cool-sounding fight for sure, but despite this, most MMA fans would probably admit that had the decision been up to them, ‘The Last Emperor’ would’ve signed with the UFC rather than Bellator in 2017.
MMA fans have dreamed about Fedor stepping into the Octagon ever since the PRIDE buyout over a decade ago, and despite time having moved on, leaving Fedor past his prime, there’d still be plenty of intriguing fights for him in the world’s biggest MMA promotion.
Here are 5 dream matches that Fedor Emelianenko could have in the UFC.
#1 vs. Brock Lesnar
Okay, so current WWE Universal champion Brock Lesnar’s status with the UFC is currently up in the air; the former UFC Heavyweight champion is rumoured to be returning to face Daniel Cormier for the title he once held at some point in 2019, but nothing has been made official yet, and with a new WWE contract supposedly inked, nobody is really sure whether he’ll return or not.
Despite this, Lesnar would still be a dream match in terms of fighting Fedor – even if he were to lose to Cormier. That’s largely because of the controversy of 2009, when it looked like the Russian legend would sign with the UFC to face Lesnar for the Heavyweight title, only for Fedor to u-turn and sign with StrikeForce instead. The whole MMA community was salivating over the fight back then, and it’s a given that everyone would still love to see it today.
What’s more, both men are arguably past their primes today; Fedor has won his last two fights but clearly isn’t the same fighter as he was in his PRIDE heyday, while Lesnar has fought just once since his 2011 retirement, a 2016 win over Mark Hunt. That means the fight would likely be contested on a largely even playing field – assuming Lesnar would be free of PEDs – and so it’d still be a ton of fun to watch despite coming a decade too late.
#2 vs. Cain Velasquez
The UFC recently announced the return of former UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez – the American Kickboxing Academy product will face off with Francis Ngannou in the main event of the promotion’s debut on the ESPN television network in February. But while that fight sounds very cool, can you imagine how awesome a showdown between Cain and Fedor would be?
Like Fedor vs. Lesnar, Fedor vs. Cain is a fight that’s been talked about for years – ever since Velasquez destroyed Brock for the UFC Heavyweight title in 2010 – and it really would be something to behold. To most fans, Velasquez was the heir to Fedor’s throne as the best Heavyweight fighter of all time; like the Russian, Velasquez had phenomenal skills in all areas, could fight as well on the ground as he could on his feet, and had few notable weaknesses.
Of course, it’s turned out that Cain’s biggest weakness is an inability to stay healthy for long periods of time. He hasn’t fought since July 2016, and so it’s unknown how he’ll look when he fights Ngannou. That means that he’s almost become old before his time – meaning a fight with Fedor might not be as one-sided as it could’ve been in 2010/11. Essentially, it’d be awesome.
#3 vs. Alistair Overeem
Prior to the Zuffa buyout of StrikeForce in 2011, the one fight fans of that promotion really wanted to see was Fedor vs. Alistair Overeem. At the time, Overeem held the StrikeForce Heavyweight title and still held a massive aura as ‘Ubereem’, arguably the most physically intimidating fighter in the sport. And despite his loss to Fabricio Werdum, Fedor was still respected as possibly the best fighter in the world.
Of course, Scott Coker failed to make the fight – instead booking the StrikeForce Heavyweight Grand Prix, attempting to have Overeem face Fedor in the semi-finals in the process, and that went badly awry when Fedor lost to Bigfoot Silva and Overeem ended up pulling out of the tournament to jump to the UFC. Years have passed since, and both fighters have declined somewhat, but let’s be honest – who wouldn’t want to see this fight now?
It’d be a battle of two long-time veterans who never managed to cross paths, and with both men probably easing towards the end of their careers – Fedor has of course already retired once – it’d be a fair fight, too. Would Overeem’s superior striking and size give him an advantage? Or would the chin of ‘The Reem’ crumble under the power of the legendary Fedor? It’d be a fascinating one for sure.
#4 vs. Daniel Cormier
Realistically, a fight between the legendary Fedor Emelianenko – usually considered the greatest Heavyweight in MMA history – and Daniel Cormier, the man who is widely recognised as the best Heavyweight on the planet today due to his position as UFC Heavyweight champion – would sound like a mismatch in 2019. But that doesn’t mean that it wouldn’t be fun.
Essentially, there’d be a number of storylines to play out; Fedor has beaten 6 former UFC Heavyweight champions in his career, but a couple of his most notable victories on that list came over a pair of world-class wrestlers in Kevin Randleman and Mark Coleman, who ended up being vanquished by the Russian twice. So could Cormier – who proudly flies the flag for amateur wrestling in MMA – buck that trend and defeat Fedor?
And then there’s the fact that Cormier has stated he only has one, maybe two fights left in his career, as he’s always intended to retire before he turns 40 – which he will do this March. If he doesn’t end up fighting Brock Lesnar as was the plan, can you imagine how much money he could make in a possible fight with Fedor instead? It’d likely be music to DC’s ears.
#5 vs. Jon Jones
If he were to sign with the UFC, barring a fight with Brock Lesnar, perhaps the biggest match that Fedor could possibly make would not be with one of the UFC’s current Heavyweights, but instead with the reigning UFC Light-Heavyweight champion Jon Jones. It wouldn’t be like Jones would be giving up a lot of size, after all – he’s a huge 205lber who’s spoken about moving up, and Fedor is a small Heavyweight who could easily make 205lbs himself.
The intrigue surrounding this fight would be simply huge – could the ageing Russian legend pull off what would probably be the most remarkable victory of his entire career, over a man who’s realistically never been beaten? Or would he become another victim of ‘Bones’, another legend to add to his list of conquered heroes like Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson and Vitor Belfort?
Naturally, in 2019 you’d have to give Jones a huge advantage over the ageing Russian as Fedor is miles past his prime now, but hey, the UFC managed to make Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie sell in 2006, and Royce was far more out of his prime then than Fedor is now. This fight would probably draw millions on pay-per-view for the UFC, and that alone would make it worth it.
