Fedor Emelianenko, widely considered to be the top pound-for-pound mixed martial artist in the world, was in New York City on Wednesday for the "Affliction: Trilogy" press conference. Of course, on August 1, Fedor will return to action to face Josh Barnett.FanHouse spoke to the WAMMA heavyweight champion about fighting his friend, Barnett, and why he refuses to sign with the UFC. The full video interview is below.
FanHouse Fedor Emelianenko Interview from Ariel Helwani on Vimeo.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
6-04-2009 @ 10:01AM
retrojoke said...
This is exactly why the UFC is a company that will sink to a competitor one day.
The contract Fedor is explaining is the same contract offered to all UFC fighters. Its a binding contract that lasts forever if you win and one that makes no commitments if you lose. Worst of all, the UFC exclusively has control of you and restricts you from any competitive fighting form outside of the UFC.
This is why Tito Ortiz is still unable to fight, because the UFC made a clause in his contract, stopping him from fighting for like a year after his contract is expired.
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6-04-2009 @ 11:24AM
moorenookie said...
He looks like Rosie O'Donnell.
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6-04-2009 @ 12:13PM
kwilbur10 said...
man i cannot wait till i get to see Fedor again. its a shame that Affliction can only put on fights when Fedor is ready. i would like to see the other fighters that affliction has but i understand that their only main attraction is him. cause he pretty much is the p4p king ever. as far as the UFC goes, why not just let him do his sambo thing thats what he has always done just find some kind of way to let him do what he wants. he is the MMA king right now, i just don't understand why not offer something to his liking he isn't like any other fighters in MMA.
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6-04-2009 @ 12:41PM
Mark said...
Hey Josh hope you're ready for a nap, you have no chance in this match
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6-04-2009 @ 12:55PM
Jeffery said...
you ll be shocked josh barnett by ground and pound.......
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6-04-2009 @ 1:22PM
bcbpat said...
Hey..Chuck could take him!!!
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6-04-2009 @ 1:39PM
hawkeye024 said...
Fedor should never fight for Dana White. If it was the old UFC before Dana White I would say go for it but not under Dana White! Fedor's legacy does not need to end under UFC's umbrella. I wish he would retire now he has beaten the best out there so there is nothing left to prove. FEDOR IS THE ULTIMATE WARRIOR OUT OF ALL MMA'S ASSOCIATIONS AND WILL NEVER BE DEFEATED. I REMEMBER WHEN ROCKY FOUGHT THE RUSSIAN DRAGO..DRAGO MADE THE COMMENT ABOUT ROCKY AND IT WENT LIKE THIS...."HE IS LIKE A PIECE OF IRON" AND THATS WHAT FEDOR IS!
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6-04-2009 @ 11:08PM
Ted said...
Fedor has been defeated once; but he did avenge the lost.
6-08-2009 @ 9:23AM
Eric said...
Watch the fight, Ted. He wasn't "beaten" by any means.
6-04-2009 @ 2:08PM
richardbikle said...
the UFC could easily do a cross promotion, but they'd be left with their champion brused and battered and wouldn't own Fedor for the rest of his natural and unnatural life.
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6-04-2009 @ 5:52PM
littlebigblind said...
get off fedors jock you fags. if he wanted to fight the best he would go to the ufc. period. he wants money and thats it. especially if he can fight has beens like arlosky and never was's like Barnett
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6-04-2009 @ 7:22PM
richardbikle said...
lets see, the last two undisputed UFC HW champions, Randy and Tim; Tim couldn't make it out of the first round - and he was the UFC champ for how long? Arlovski was going to be a contender, he lasted how long? Mir concedes Fedor is the best HW. So whats your BS about Fedor? He's been and is the best. UFC doesn't have the best HW.
Barnett is better that all but one or two of UFC's HWs, and he might be better than them.
6-04-2009 @ 11:04PM
Kenny Powers Fastball (PSN johnnynumber5) said...
Just ignore this littlebigblind guy because he is obviously some wrestling fan who thinks it's manly to call people fags on the internet.
Don't feed the troll.
The truth is Fedor has nothing to prove to anyone and if the UFC wants him they have to do it on his terms. It's as simple as that. It's like Manny Pacquiao in boxing right now. Fedor holds all the cards and people have to come to him because thats where the real money and fame lies. No true MMA fan worth their salt actually believes the UFC has the best heavyweights. It's absurd to even try and hint thats the truth. I could take fighters from the rest of the world in other organizations and match them up against any UFC champion and it would be one hell of a fight. No domination in that regard.
Heavyweight - Fedor/Barnett / UFC - Mir/Lesnar co-champs
Light Heavyweight - Khalidev/Musasi/Manhouef / UFC - Machida
Middleweight - Musasi/Jacare / UFC - Silva
Welterweight - Alvarez/Sakurai / UFC - St.Pierre
Lightweight - Aoki/Melendez/Alvarez/Thomson / UFC B.J. Penn
The UFC guys could win those fights but the point is the organization is far from dominant in terms of talent. The UFC has the best collection of fighters for one organization but not the best in the world overall in every division.
6-04-2009 @ 6:20PM
mikecynz said...
fedor seems like dana's trump card so to speak. he is dana's anti hero, like dr. manhattan.without him, dana can write his own ticket. maybe fedor should challenge dana to a boxing match like tito did, but not puss out like tito did.
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6-04-2009 @ 9:45PM
jOhNnY gUEn said...
Fedor is stupid, him fighting while not in the ufc is not a problem, the salary he was offered is ridiculous, who would want to fight outside for another company other than the ufc. The only thing Fedor and his management demands is that the "UFC BUILD A STADIUM IN RUSSIA" to headline some of his fights..... what kind of a idiot would agree to that....does he even know how much that would cost...seriously... Fedor is just riding the waves fighting the same people time after time, he probably did see that most of the people from k1 or affliction who went to the ufc either starts slumping or gets hurt.
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6-04-2009 @ 11:08PM
Kenny Powers Fastball (PSN johnnynumber5) said...
That whole stadium thing was taken out of context and is factually inaccurate. You don't see Affliction building him a stadium in Russia to fight, do you? Fedor can make 500K-1 MIL a fight outside the UFC and still have freedom to spar Aoki for fun and compete in Sambo. The point is he doesn't need the UFC. His legacy is sound regardless of if he ever fights in the Octagon. Truthfully neither needs the other in this relationship. But, if the UFC signed Fedor it would be the biggest PPV event in the history of the world.
6-04-2009 @ 10:09PM
retrojoke said...
UFC has the fresh meat HW's and best HW prospects. All the HW's outside the UFC are washed up,inactive, or past their prime.
Fedor has no lasting legacy without the UFC. He has no place to call home and no company to etch his name in stone as the best. He only has the consideration of the fans and the critics.
He wants his freedom, i understand that. His freedom is more important to him than being a legend in the books. I definatly enjoy his Sambo tournaments and would be upset if he couldnt do them anymore. The UFC contract is just to binding.
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6-04-2009 @ 10:46PM
Kenny Powers Fastball (PSN johnnynumber5) said...
Who does the UFC have to fight him?
You really think barnett & arlovski are washed up fighters?
I could see Fedor doing a Strikeforce card against Overeem or Rodgers at some point.
I think you are giving the UFC heavyweight division way to much credit. To be honest there are a handful of good UFC HW's (Mir, Kongo & an undersized Couture) and a couple of decent prospects in lesnar, Dos Santos & Carwin.
Fedor doesn't need the UFC and I guarantee you at some point fighters will leave the UFC just to fight Fedor. Anderson Silva has already said he wants to fight Fedor before he retires and that won't happen in the UFC.
6-05-2009 @ 12:23AM
richardbikle said...
you're a flippin idiot. the best HW in the world is outside the UFC, and about half of the top ten HWs in the world are outside the ufc. Half the ufc top ten would be lucky to beat Mark Hunt.
Just stick with cut and paste of what other people write, everytime you try to say something its completely wrong.
RetroJOKE youre a douche.
6-09-2009 @ 9:34PM
jctequila55 said...
He already is a legend and he does not need the UFC. The UF needs him!