Five Reasons The UFC Needs to Book Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor

Since the announcement that Brock Lesnar was coming back to MMA at UFC 199 on June 4, fans have waited with baited breath for ‘The Beast’s’ return to the Octagon.

One of the most popular and polarizing figures in the sport’s history was must-watch television as an MMA fighter, and he figures to be again however many more times he makes the walk to the cage.

Lesnar’s first dance partner will be the hard-hitting Mark Hunt, who makes for a great stylistic foil. Will Lesnar be able to get Hunt to the mat, or will “The Super Samoan” find Lesnar’s chin?

But win or lose for Lesnar at UFC 200, the next fight he takes in the UFC (should we be lucky enough to get another), that makes the most sense for him is a long-rumored bout against Fedor Emelianenko.

With the UFC exclusively airing the Russian legend’s last fight at Eurasia Fight Nights 50 on UFC Fight Pass, a deal to get “The Last Emperor” inside the Octagon feels closer than ever. If Dana White were able to finally capture the legendary Emelianenko, having him square off with Lesnar makes too much sense not to put together.

Read on for the reasons why this is a layup booking for UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.

1. The Fight Would Make Tons of Money

This is the bottom line, and everything else is just gravy on top.

Lesnar has been a pay-per-view and ratings juggernaut for the UFC every time he has fought, so White trying to borrow him from the WWE as much as possible makes the most sense in the world. Most estimates are that Lesnar adds about 500,000 buys to any pay-per-view on which he appears.

Add that to the mystique of “The Last Emperor,” and the UFC has a license to start printing money. Hardcore fans already know all about Emelianenko, but even as a first-time UFC fighter, selling him to casuals would be pretty easy. The UFC owns all of his Pride footage, where he went on his stunning run and staked his claim as the best heavyweight, and perhaps best fighter, ever.

As we are reminded over and over, the UFC is a business. Lesnar vs. Emelianenko makes perfect sense from a business standpoint, so the UFC will make it happen if it can.

2. It Would Feature Two Icons

Beyond making the promotion beaucoup bucks, Lesnar vs. Emelianenko has an allure that almost no other available option would possess. Both men are legends of the sport, and there is not another active heavyweight who carries the same cache of either Lesnar or the Russian great.

As already mentioned, Emelianenko is the consensus pick as the greatest heavyweight to ever strap on a pair of four ounce gloves. He was undefeated for nearly a decade, running roughshod over his contemporaries in Pride. In its heyday, the Japanese organization had a better and deeper stable of big men than the UFC.

While Lesnar’s run at the top of the sport was much more short-lived, his massive drawing power made him nearly as iconic as the heavyweight G.O.A.T. Many purist MMA fans despised the way the pro-wrestling star received preferential treatment and title shots they perceived to be undeserved. But after winning the belt and tying the record for UFC heavyweight title defenses by beating the likes of all-time greats Randy Couture and Frank Mir, few can dispute Lesnar’s place as a legitimate fighter. That, paired with his undeniable charisma, made him a hugely important figure to heavyweight MMA.

Lesnar and Emelianenko also have a few things going for them that other heavyweight icons do not. First of all, they are still actively fighting (or are about to be). Perhaps the next two heavyweight luminaries, Randy Couture and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, are firmly retired.

Secondly, unlike other top ten heavyweights of all time, Lesnar and Emelianenko do not have recent, high-profile, disappointing performances. Fabricio Werdum was just KO’ed in embarrassing fashion. Same with Frank Mir. While both Lesnar and “The Last Emperor’s” last fights were cut from the same cloth (Emelianenko won his, but barely), Lesnar’s was years ago, allowing his aura to return. Emelianenko’s was only available to hardcore fans.

Clearly these two are not at the top of the sport any longer, but no one still fighting has the same gravitas.

3. The Fight Could Be Competitive

The fact that these two once-great big men are no longer in their competitive primes is immaterial to this fight. In fact, it puts them on an equal footing that makes the fight better.

Lesnar has not looked like the dominant force we saw smash Couture and Mir since his bout of diverticulitis stole valuable years from his prime. From then on, his aversion to getting hit hard became crippling. Add to that the fact that he has not been actively competing or regularly training for four and a half years, and we can rest assured that Lesnar is likely a far cry from the 2009 version of himself.

Emelianenko, meanwhile, had not looked like an upper echelon fighter for some time before his own three and half year retirement. First, there were his three stunning and disappointing losses in Strikeforce to Werdum, Antonio Silva, and Dan Henderson that ended his reign atop the division. After a few wins in Russia and Japan over lesser competition, he retired, and then returned to beat guys who wouldn’t have belonged in the same arena as a prime Fedor. His last win saw him nearly get stopped by a UFC light heavyweight washout whom he had to rally to eke by.

Neither fighter will have a marked physical advantage over the other, and that is all to the good. It makes it more likely that the fight delivers on the hype rather than leaving the audience disappointed and disenchanted. And a competitive scrap for the two men sets up the possibility of them both having more intriguing fights down the line.

4. Lesnar Makes The Best Possible Opponent For Fedor

As already mentioned, Dana White and Co. obviously want to see Lesnar in the Octagon as often as possible. He’s a huge star and a massive draw.

To a lesser extent, the same is true of Emelianenko. There’s little if any doubt that the UFC would make more money with Fedor in the cage than without him.

If the UFC is going to finally have “The Last Emperor” make his walk to the Octagon, who makes more sense than Lesnar? Other fights that would put Emelianenko in a position to look good (and if you’re the UFC, you do want him to look good to help sell future fights), like against Mir or Roy Nelson, wouldn’t be as lucrative.

And if you’re trying to draw Lesnar out of the wrestling ring and into the cage, having him fight Fedor is the best possible option. He is fighting at UFC 200 because he is going to make a ton of money. But his opponent is the very dangerous Mark Hunt. Lesnar could come away from the landmark event with a lot of egg on his face. That hurts his pro-wrestling shtick as much as his MMA career. But putting him in there against “The Last Emperor” in a second comeback fight, he has the chance to once again make a ton of cash while fighting a much more diminished opponent. This would allow him to rebuild (or bolster) his invincible pro wrestling persona.

The bottom line is that the UFC makes a truckload of cash with either Lesnar or Emelianenko in the Octagon, and it makes the most pairing them together while also setting up for the future.

5. Fans Want To See It

Fight fans have yearned to see Emelianenko in the UFC for a decade. The UFC first whiffed on getting the stoic Russian into the Octagon when it acquired Pride.  Unable to come to terms with Emelianenko’s management, he walked and competed for other organizations like Affliction and Strikeforce.

When Zuffa bought out Strikeforce, the heavyweight division was perhaps the most exciting part of the acquisition. The Scott Coker-led promotion was in the midst of its heavyweight grand prix that featured several top ten big men. Much excitement surrounded the potential matchups that could be put together with the addition of those fighters. Alistair Overeem vs. Junior dos Santos, Josh Barnett vs. Frank Mir, and Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor Emelianenko were just a few of the possibilities. Ever since then, the fantasy matchup between the two has been a tantalizing prize just out of fans’ reach.

If the UFC can finally sign Fedor and get another fight out of Lesnar, putting the two together is the only logical move.