Fedor Emelianenko to return in June or July at the earliest

Published on: 9th March, 2010

Fedor Emelianenko to return in June or July at the earliest   | read this item

It looks like we will not see a Fedor Emelianenko vs Fabricio Werdum heavyweight clash that was expected in May until June or July at the earliest.

M-1’s director of operations, Evengi Kogan confirmed the news of Fedor Emelianenko’s return to Sherdog.com earlier today.

“I think June, July is realistic (for Emelianenko’s return),” said Evgeni Kogan, M-1 Global’s Director of Operations. “It’s not 100 percent. Don’t take this as a fight announcement, but I think during the summer.”

Kogan also confirmed that StrikeForce and M-1 Global are now in the final stages of renegotiating the terms of Fedor Emelianenko’s contract. Kogan downplayed the recent reports of a big fallout between the two promotions and said the talks were only to settle minor details.

“We were renegotiating. I think we’re pretty much at the end of that road,” said Kogan. “After the CBS show, we thought that the terms needed a little bit tweaking — nothing major, just a little bit of tweaking. So, we had a round of negotiations with Strikeforce. Everything went positively. We’re pretty much at the end.”

Kogan also stated that M-1 is working a lot less with former PRIDE vp Jerry Millen these days, after a rumor circulated that he was ousted from the company proved to be false.

“Everyone else is still onboard — nothing else, in that respect, has changed,” said Kogan. “We’re working less with Jerry (Millen) then we were. Gerry is producing the Challenge shows for us, but not the Selection events.”

Not good news for fans of the last Emperor will have to wait a bit longer before he returns to network TV or Showtime.

 Narcisist is the Co-owner of UR Dirt and is the designer, editor and author. URDirt.com is a MMA blog that covers the UFC, WEC, StrikeForce, DREAM and several other Mixed Martial Art promotions. Read more from this author

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