Fedor Emelianenko loses first Combat Sambo match in eight years

There was another heavyweight champion that suffered a loss this past weekend. Lost in the midst of the Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar fight, Fedor Emelianenko dropped his first Combat Sambo match in eight years on Saturday night to a World Combat Sambo Champion from Bulgaria that goes by the name of Blagoi Ivanov.

The bout came in the semifinals of the over 100kg division at the 2008 World Combat Sambo Championships. Fedor was outpointed and lost the match by a score of 8-5 to Ivanov. The Bulgarian went on to win the gold medal while Fedor had to settle for the bronze.

Fedor holds a previous victory over Ivanov when the two met for the first time earlier this year in the finals of President’s cup in St. Petersburg, Russia. It is highly likely that the two will meet again very soon as the next President’s Cup is coming up and a rubber match between the champions will be inevitable.

With such a huge win over the guy that many consider to be the best fighter alive, Ivanov may end up competing in mixed martial arts on american soil very shortly as rumors of several organizations expressing interest in the fighter have already began to circulate.