Fedor Emelianenko (35-4, 1 NC) is the great Russian white whale that Dana White and the UFC have been chasing for the past decade, and every time they come to the table to negotiate, it seems like something gets in the way. White has said in the past that Fedor and his team were asking for too much at times, the Russian’s team attempted to co-promote an event, to which White and company said, “No thanks.”
But, if you ask Fedor, he’s closer than ever to signing a contract with the UFC. In an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, the heavyweight (via a translator) said negotiations are on-going:
“I always wanted to fight for UFC and I would fight for UFC, but at this moment we’re looking at the deal and the deal has to satisfy both parties — them and my organization. Until there’s no friction, until we are 100 percent in terms of seeing eye-to-eye, we are all basically in limbo.”
At 39 years young, Emelianenko is feeling like the world-beater he once was before he dropped three-straight to the likes of Dan Henderson, Antonio Silva, and Fabricio Werdum.
“I did get that feeling. I feel like I am back. A fighter is measured by the last fight. I’m looking forward to illustrate I am back in my usual form.”
As far as a fight in UFC goes, Fedor said, “Yes, we did receive an offer. But there are some finer points that we wanted to discuss.”
(via MMA Fighting)