Fedor Emelianenko - Photo: Esther Lin
After being defeated by the Brazilian Antonio Pezão in the quarterfinals of the Strikeforce heavyweight GP, held last month, the Russian Fedor Emelianenko He considered hanging up his gloves. However, rumors of the fighter's possible retirement seem to be far from confirmed.
After the setback to Pezão, Fedor returned to his homeland and admitted that he was too quick to announce his retirement due to the great frustration that occurred during his debut in the tournament. In an interview given today (24), the fighter denied that he is abandoning the sport, further stating that he could be in action within the next few months.
“I will fight this year. I don't know who my opponent will be, but this is already being studied by Strikeforce directors. I haven’t retired, I still want to continue competing,” said Fedor.
In the same sense, Strikeforce's executive director, Scott Coker, has always made it clear that he is certain that the heavyweight will not retire (remember here). The director highlighted this afternoon that Fedor still has fights to fulfill in his contract with the Californian organization and that the Russian will honor his commitment to the event. Furthermore, the manager is already planning the date of Fedor's return, looking for a way to include him again in the event's heavyweight GP.
“Fedor will probably fight in July, maybe in the second half of the month. We still don't have an opponent in mind, but we are considering the possibility of him joining the GP as a substitute”, highlighted Coker.
In his 11-year career, Fedor had 31 wins, three defeats and one No Contest. Among his main achievements are the Rings GP titles, in 2001, and Pride, in 2004, in addition to the heavyweight belts from Pride and Affliction itself.
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