When Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight titleholder Cain Velasquez defeated Brock Lesnar to win the 265-pound strap at the UFC 121 pay-per-view (PPV) way back in 2010, the newly-crowned kingpin was asked who he believed was his "ideal match up."
His answer was Fedor Emelianenko.
That wasn't lost on M-1 Global executives, who tried to finagle a match between the two shortly thereafter. Unfortunately for mixed martial arts (MMA) fans, UFC President Dana White wasn't having it, and instead tried to lure the former PRIDE deity out of retirement with a super-sized showdown against Lesnar.
And it almost happened.
But if "The Last Emperor" could travel back to his prime, back when he was wrecking shit overseas, his dream fight wouldn't be against "The Brockness Monster," but rather Velasquez, who presents an intriguing match up as a "thinking fighter."
Emelianenko spoke to Calgary Sun:
"Cain Velasquez. He has some technical difficulties, but he has ambition and he's fearless. He wants to win so badly and he's in great condition. He's a thinking fighter. I still train, so there isn't much that I miss. A true athlete is someone who doesn't just stop training when they stop competing. It's a way of life and they keep in shape just to keep up that standard. Plus, there's a lot of younger guys who would like to take me down, so I always need to keep up because I definitely don't want that to happen."
Unfortunately for fans, "the greatest MMA fighter of all time" insists he's not coming out of retirement.
Emelianenko -- still only 37 -- called it quits back in 2012 after knocking out Pedro Rizzo in Russia, marking his third straight win after a disastrous run in Strikeforce. The one-time Affliction MMA headliner retired with a 34-4 (1 NC) record after 12 years in the fight game.
Velasquez (13-1) looks to make it five straight when he battles Fabricio Werdum this November.
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