Fedor Emelianenko Returns Against Fabricio Werdum On June 26

Fedor Emelianenko Returns Against Fabricio Werdum On June 26

After months of anticipation, the world’s No. 1 heavyweight and pound-for-pound Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter, Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko (31-1), will make his eagerly awaited return to the cage to face two-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion and top-ranked superstar Fabricio “Vai Cavalo” Werdum (13-4) in a STRIKEFORCE and M-1 GLOBAL co-promoted event at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif. on Saturday, June 26, live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

The Fedor-Werdum match will headline an event which will feature up to five televised fights on SHOWTIME and several non-televised undercard bouts that will be announced in the coming weeks.

So despite all the talk that a reconciliation with Strikeforce would never happen and rumors that Fedor’s people were in talks with the UFC, it looks like we’ll see the world’s #1 heavyweight back in action at the end of June against #9 ranked heavyweight Fabricio Werdum.

Strikeforce Sets Deadline For Fedor To Agree To June Return

“There’s still dialogue between us and Fedor’s people,” Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker said. “We’re hopeful we can get the take done as soon a possible. It’s an ongoing process to get him back. It’s been too long already.”

Coker has set a mid-May deadline for putting the match together, as there is a target date of June 26 in San Jose set for the fight and the company wants a full six weeks of promotion.

Things aren’t sounding all that great for the return and frm the tone of things it sounds clear that Coker is getting annoyed that he can’t get the promotion’s best fighter into the cage.

There have been so many times where we’ve heard “it’s okay! Fedor will be back soon!” only to hear that there are still sticking points in the negotiations. I’m not going to be holding my breath on this one. When an announcement is made and Fedor steps into the cage, that’s when I’ll believe that he’s returned to Strikeforce.

Fedor Emelianenko To Return To Action Against Fabricio Werdum In June

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker via MMA Weekly:

"M-1 Global and Strikeforce entered into a three fight contract exclusive for Fedor to fight in a co-promotion between Strikeforce and M-1 Global, and as you know we did the first fight on Nov 7 in Chicago," said Coker.

"Fedor is now scheduled to fight in June towards the end of the month in America against Fabricio Werdum."

This means an end to the contractual dispute between M-1 Global and Strikeforce over Fedor.  Regardless of the true motivations of M-1 (was it lack of acceptable amounts of exposure for M-1 or just a play for more money?) the most important thing to MMA fans should simply be getting to see one of the greatest fighters in the history of the sport competing.

Werdum represents a top 10 opponent and a legitimate challenge, but one that Fedor should be able to overcome using his normal dominant style of thunderous punching and dictating the spacing of the fight.

SB Nation will have more on this story in the coming days.