Report: Fedor vs. Cro Cop Rematch Happening In September

For two of the most well-known veterans in mixed martial arts, Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic, it’s been a long journey fraught with staggering highs and deep lows. Fedor started his career as an unknown Russian mainly fighting on Japanese soil. His only loss up until 2010 was a TKO due to a cut, a loss that he’d avenged by demolishing Kohsaka in 2005. Leading in to his first real loss as a professional to Fabricio Werdm in 2010, ‘The Last Emperor’ touted an unmatched 31–1 (1) record.

The consensus opinion on Fedor at the time was he was the greatest of all time, the most dominant fighter of his era and king of the heavyweights. It came as a huge shock when Werdum submitted Emelianenko in the first round of their Strikeforce battle, and the following losses to Dan Henderson and Bigfoot Silva sent Fedor back to Russia and somewhat lower calibre opponents. Three straight wins over Jeff Monson, Pedro Rizzo and Satoshi Ishii saw ‘The Last Emperor’ call it quits in 2012.

Arguably one of the greatest kickboxers to ever live and the most feared pure striker from the Pride FC era, Mirko Cro Cop shared an eventful rivalry with Fedor. Knocking out his younger brother Alexander, Cro Cop set up a fight of the century with Emelianenko at Pride Conflict 2005. Fedor would win in one of the most exciting fights the promotion ever put on, and Cro Cop would go on to experience a serious drop in form following his 2007 signing to the UFC.

A number of hard losses would see Cro Cop announce is retirement from MMA in 2011, only to return to kickboxing and win the 2012 K-1 world GP. A 2015 return to the UFC was short-lived, as Cro Cop avenged his loss to Gabriel Gonzaga with a thrilling TKO in Poland, only to become embroiled in a strange situation with USADA. Now both men are once again back in action, and are reportedly on a collision course for September.

Fedor’s recent shambles of a fight against Fabio Malonado and victory over the biggest can possible Jideep Singh came as huge disappointments to his fans. He is now heavily rumoured to be fighting Mirko Cro Cop at Rizin FF this coming September 25. As per Cro Cop’s Facebook page:

Rizin FF recently announced their 16-man tournament for later this year, Mirko Cro Cop was granted a by for the first round, automatically advancing to the quarter finals. The openweight tourney will also feature former Pride FC champion Wanderlei Silva.

Worth noting is that this will be the first opponent of any real calibre that Emelianenko has faced since 2011. It seems that the rumours of Fedor signing to the UFC are once again just that. Any interest?