And to think the UFC was worried.
Fedor Emelianenko cruised to his fourth Combat Sambo title on Saturday in Prague and hardly broke a sweat in the process thanks to some unusual circumstances.
Here's a summary from Sherdog:
To do so, he had to step on the mats only once. The 220-plus-pound representative from Uzbekistan did not show in Prague, thus giving Fedor a bye to the semifinals. There he quickly took out a Bulgarian fighter via choke to set up a meeting with a Ukrainian competitor in the finals. Much to Fedor's chagrin, the Ukrainian fighter, who had defeated UFC veteran Kristof Midoux in the other semifinal, did not turn up either, handing Fedor the victory.
Fedor has been in the hotseat lately for signing with M-1 Global -- a move many detractors have called the path of least resistance.
Despite a total of 10 world championship medals in Sambo, the circumstances behind this easy title defense will no doubt be raising some of the same eyebrows.
During contract negotiations with the UFC back in July, manager Vadim Finkelstein revealed that the UFC brass did not want Fedor to participate in Sambo tournaments, including Saturday's event in Prague.
While no one can say for sure if that was the straw that broke the camel's back, it's obvious that both sides were steadfast in their positions and unable to reach an agreement on terms.
I now wonder if Saturday's result has anyone in the UFC second-guessing that decision.