At one point in time, Fedor Emelianenko was considered to be the greatest heavyweight fighter in MMA history. In the 2000s, Emelianenko had 33 professional fights, winning 31 of them, with one no contest and one loss that was only due to a controversial doctor’s stoppage in the RINGS promotion in Japan. “The Last Emperor” retired from fighting in 2023, but in a recent interview with TASS, Emelianenko has admitted that he wants to get back into combat sports after he celebrates his 50th birthday.
“I’m thinking about competing in the Russian Combat Sambo Championship after I turn 50. I want to fight a little bit with our Sambo guys.” Sambo is a sport known by many as a prototype for MMA, combining boxing, judo, wrestling and more, which Emelianenko exceled at as he became a seven-time national champion and a four time world champion. However, his last combat sambo contest took place in 2012 where he landed a quick submission victory over his brother Alexander.
Sambo isn’t the only combat sport that “The Last Emperor” has his eye on as he revealed he also has plans for a boxing match with someone he knows very well from his days in PRIDE, Mirko “Cro Cop” Flilipovic. “I will soon travel to Serbia. We’ll talk with the organizers, see how the preparations for our fight are going. Right now, there’s a letter of intent; everything’s going smoothly, just give it time. There are concerns [that the bout will be cancelled]. It was different with previous organizations I was with.”
Emelianenko faced off with Cro Cop at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005, where “The Last Emperor” successfully defended the PRIDE Heavyweight Championship. That fight is widely considered by many to be one of the greatest MMA fights of all time, with Sports Illustrated and Yahoo Sports ranking it as the “Fight of the Decade” throughout the 2000s.
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