Fedor is taking a HUGE step up in competition!!

Quote :

Former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko will return to action on June 17 in St. Petersburg, Russia, against UFC veteran Fabio Maldonado. Brazilian news outlet Combate first reported the news on Tuesday.

Emelianenko (35-4, 1 NC) came out of retirement on Dec. 31 after being out of competition since June 2012. He defeated Singh Jaideep in the first round at RIZIN FF 2.

Maldonado (22-9) last fought in November, losing to Corey Anderson by unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night 77. Following the loss, the Brazilian was released by the fight promotion. He’s coming off back-to-back losses. Maldonado hopes to get back in the win column and hand the Russian his first loss since coming out of retirement.

Although Fedor has negotiated with the UFC several times over the years, often saying he wanted to fight in the UFC, those negotiations have never landed him in the Octagon. As RIZIN attempts to rekindle the spirit of Pride FC, where Fedor attained legendary status, the Russian fighter appears content to fight for RIZIN and associated promotions like Fight Nights Global in St. Petersburg.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/fedor-emelianenko-faces-fabio-maldonado-in-russia-for-his-next-fight



He's taking a tremendous jump up in competition by taking on a mid-level LHW coming off back-to-back-losses!

Sadly and remarkably, that statement is actually true.

 

So the Paper Emperor is fighting another UFC cast-off.

He knows as well as many of us that he was never worth all the hype with a handful of notable w's and as soon as he started fighting the best in the biz he started losing....he probably sees it clearer than most of his fans.....I'm completely uninterested in Fedor at this point......mark hunt is perfect example of what Fedor should be doing if he ever thought he was top 5 material....

So... if Fedor doesn't get the take down he has a fair chance of losing due to Fabio's good hands. I can see it happening...

Absolutely.
If the odds get too insane... I may drop some money on Fabio.

And Fabio can take a punch. I know Stipe put him away pretty quickly, but he ate roughly 21,743 punches from Glover Texiera and just kept on coming, even rocking Glover along the way a few times.