Fedor ‘The Last Emperor’ Emelianenko has always been a thorn in the side of Dana White.
The UFC president has almost ever taken what he wanted to take. Almost.
It’s also no secret that Emelianenko retired without ever fighting for the UFC, in spite of the several attempts that Dana did to make him sign to fight in the Octagon.
During the years, White has been critical of Emelianenko’s regard as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, but now that the Russian has retired, he can be more honest about his value.
“Do I think that Fedor is one of the greatest heavyweights ever? Yes, he’s one of the greatest heavyweights ever. I’ll give you that,” White said.
But while White considers UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva as the greatest fighter who has ever stepped foot into the MMA arena, he doesn’t believe the same for Fedor: “Is he one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time? You’re out of your minds”.
Emelianenko retired from MMA earlier this year and finished his career with an impressive 34-4-1 record overall. His last match was against Pedro Rizzo at M-1 Global, in St. Petersburg, Russia (= Fedor Emelianenko vs Pedro Rizzo).
Video Fedor Emelianenko highlights:
