Fedor Emelianenko is regarded as one of the best heavyweight athletes of all time. The 46-year-old Russian was undefeated for 10 years, from 2001 to 2010, and defeated most of his opponents via finishes, becoming world champion in various MMA promotions, including PRIDE and Bellator MMA.
Despite his legacy, Emelianenko never set foot inside the UFC’s octagon. He and his management team had several rounds of negotiation with the UFC. White, once a big fan, had hoped Emelianenko would sign an exclusive contract with the UFC. However, talks fell apart, and Emelianenko never joined, leading to a strained relationship between the two. Emelianenko even went so far as to say that White “doesn’t care about people.”
Jerry Millen, Emelianenko’s US manager, famously filmed the June interview where Emelianenko criticized White’s behavior.
Emelianenko recently retired after headlining Bellator 290 against Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader, where he lost via a first-round knockout. After the main event, Emelianenko left his gloves in the cage, marking the end of his career.
During the UFC Vegas 68 press conference, White was asked if he regretted that Emelianenko never joined the UFC.
“No. I don’t dislike Fedor or anything like that. But that didn’t happen. We gave him a shot. Can’t say we didn’t try. It is what it is,” White said.
When asked about Emelianenko’s legacy, White made it clear he doesn’t consider Emelianenko one of the greatest because he never competed against UFC-level athletes.
“I don’t wanna s**t on the guy. You know, he’s retiring tonight and all that stuff. I mean, you guys know the old interviews with me. He got knocked out by middleweight Dan Henderson.”
“You know what I mean? I think some of the guys in the business [and] people liked him, so they praised him. He never got to test himself over here. But I never was one of the guys that thought he was one of the greatest of all time,” White explained.
