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#4. Fedor vs. Josh Barnett
Fedor vs. Josh Barnett was a huge fight that never happened. The two were originally scheduled to fight back in 2009 at Affliction 3. However, the bout didn’t come to fruition due to Barnett failing a drug test, resulting in the clash being cancelled.
‘The Warmaster’ had a lot of success utilizing his catch wrestling on route to a UFC heavyweight championship. After his UFC departure, he carried his success over to PRIDE. Barnett was runner-up in the 2006 PRIDE heavyweight Grand Prix after losing to Mirko Cro Cop in the finals.
Even when both fighters were competing in Strikeforce at the same time, the bout never materialized. The only opportunity for ‘The Last Emperor’ vs. ‘The Warmaster’ was in the Strikeforce heavyweight Grand Prix in 2011. But, Fedor was defeated by ‘Bigfoot’ Silva, while Barnett, on the other side of the bracket, advanced to the finals.
#3. Fedor vs. Randy Couture
One of the biggest Fedor Emelianenko fights that never happened was against Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture. In 2007, Couture did the unthinkable by defeating then-UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia to become the new champion. ‘The Natural’ was 44 years old at the time and defeated the much larger and younger champion.
Couture then followed that up by successfully defending his title against top-contender Gabriel Gonzaga. After these impressive performances, there was plenty of discussion of Couture and Fedor fighting one another. The bout would’ve taken place in Affliction, but those plans were scrapped after failed negotiations with the UFC.
‘The Natural’ had great wrestling and was a handful to deal with in the clinch. Even in his 40s, Couture was still competing at a very high level. Fedor vs. Couture would be another what-if as ‘The Natural’ lost the UFC heavyweight championship to Brock Lesnar at UFC 91.
