Fedor Emelianenko is the centerpiece of Rizin Fighting Federation, but the Japanese promotion has been keeping any and all details about his return close to the vest. On Thursday night, however, Rizin officials finally, finally, announced who the Russian MMA legend will face in his return.
On December 31, Emelianenko will face former K-1 and Glory kickboxer Jaideep Singh, who is 2-0 in his MMA career. The news was reported by a number of outlets, including ESPN.com, via Brett Okamoto:
Fedor Emelianenko's (34-4) opponent for Dec. 31 in Saitama, Japan will be 28-year-old kickboxer Jaideep Singh (2-0).
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) December 18, 2015
Fans have been agonizing over Fedor's opponent for months now and have twice been suckered as a result.
Back in October, it was widely reported that Emelianenko was going to face Singh. According to MMAFighting.com, however, that bout was supposedly canceled by Rizin FF after Singh posted an unimpressive performance against Carlos Toyota in DEEP.
After that came a report from AXS TV's Inside MMA that Emelianenko would instead face old rival Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. The proposed fight made a tiny bit of sense, given how Kohsaka owns a controversial 2000 win over Emelianenko, which came via doctor stoppage due to a cut suffered by Emelianenko due to an illegal elbow. But fans were lukewarm on it, given Kohsaka's nine-year absence from the sport and the fact that Emelianenko avenged the loss in vicious fashion at Pride: Bushido 6 back in 2005.
With the announcement that Emelianenko will indeed return opposite Singh comes a renewed sense of disappointment. Emelianenko, despite his rocky exit from Strikeforce, remains an MMA legend and there was hope that he would face a relatively high-profile opponent in his return. There are a number of interesting options available at this time, including fellow retired legends Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz or recently departed UFC fighters Soa Palelei and Shawn Jordan.
While Singh is an interesting opponent for the Japanese audience, he is a complete unknown stateside and is unlikely to be competitive in a fight with even a 39 year-old Emelianenko. While the Rizin FF card will still be worth watching due to the presence of fighters like Shinya Aoki, Mo Lawal and Kazushi Sakuraba, this main event feels flimsy at best.
