Fedor Emelianenko Says He's Closer Than Ever To Signing With The UFC

Legendary MMA heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko fights UFC veteran Fabio Maldonado on Fight Pass this Friday morning, but he could be closer than ever to a UFC debut.

Fedor spoke to Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour this afternoon, and was asked about the possibility of competing in the UFC. Fedor, whose EFN fight will air on UFC's streaming service on June 17, says he's closer than ever.

"I'm much closer compared to when I just came back to MMA," Emelianenko told Helwani. "We did receive an offer, but there are some finer points that we wanted to discuss."

Helwani prodded at Fedor, asking if his career would feel incomplete if he didn't fight for the UFC. The company has made several lucrative offers to the former PRIDE Champion, but all have been turned down thus far.

"I always wanted to fight for UFC and I would fight for UFC. At this moment we're looking at the deal and the deal has to satisfy both parties (him and his organization)," Emelianenko said through an interpreter during the interview. "Until there's no friction and until we are 100% in terms of seeing eye-to-eye, we are all in limbo."

There were rumors four years ago of a potential bout against Brock Lesnar at AT&T Stadium. Fedor said that the fight wasn't close to happening, but if the proposal was made today, he'd consider the idea.

Source: MMA Fighting