Fedor Emelinanko is one of the biggest MMA legends to have never made it into the UFC. Emelianenko is gearing for the very last bout of his MMA career in early Feburary, when he meets Bellator heavyweight champ Ryan Bader.
But the company line doesn’t matter when it comes to UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili.
Weili is such a massive fan of Fedor Emelienanko, that she named her dog after him.
A new clip of the UFC strawweight champion shows her standing next to her large 3-year-old dog. She is petting the canine and explaining how his name came to be. Zhang Weili also jokingly apologized to Fedor for naming the dog after him.
Everyone in MMA knows that Weili is a dog lover. She was seen playing with her schnauzer dog in the cage before UFC 261.
She also posted a heartfelt message on social media when this dog, Mui, passed away.
Weili’s gesture just goes to show how much MMA pros idolize the “Last Emperor”. Some of the greatest and most accomplished MMA athletes have shown respect to the man.
Former UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo was once asked to come up with a list of the top 5 GOATs in MMA. Aldo, who’s the latest addition to the UFC Hall of Fame, placed Fedor at the top of the list.
“Man, I think we all have a list. The number one for me is Fedor Emelianenko, I’m a big fan of his, the guy is so amazing,” he told the interviewer.
Another UFC Hall of Famer and former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov once talked about comparison to the legend. Khabib, who’s a compatriot of Fedor, said the following:
“What about Fedor, he’s a great fighter and I have always watched his fights. I try to inspire myself in him, in the way he behaved.”
Former UFC double champ and two-time Olympic gold medalist Daniel Cormier has been called the “Black Fedor” at times. This is due to the similar build and excellent wrestling background that the two legends have.
Karyn Bryant once asked Cormier about the nickname and he said that he thinks it’s “cool” and that he respects “Fedor a ton,”.