Just when you thought the mixed martial arts career of top ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko couldn't possibly get any more complicated.

MiddleEasy.com helps decipher a press release from their initial scoop announcing the approved list of candidates for internal party elections for the regional political council of the party "United Russia."

And "The Last Emperor" finds his name among the list of 58 candidates in the upcoming October elections in the Belgorod Regional Duma:

Among the most notable candidates, in addition to the deputies (Anatolia Zelikow, Victor Filatov, Vadim Cage, Valeria Skruga, Ivan Kulabuhova, Vladimir Kulikovsky) - a famous athlete Fedor Emelianenko, the new director of Belarusian State Technological University Sergey Glagolev (by the way, non-partisan), director of the Institute of Public and municipal government BSU Alexander Mamatov.

But how will that affect his mixed martial arts career and current co-promotion agreement with the San Jose-based Strikeforce promotion?

Well, MiddleEasy is giving some credence to a rumor that Emelianenko could hang up the gloves after his final two Strikeforce fights. As of now, he's booked to face Fabricio Werdum on June 16 and is widely expected to challenge Alistair Overeem for the heavyweight title later this year.

It may (or may not) be the last time fans get to see the Russian compete.

Of course much of this talk is still speculation, as neither Emelianenko or his M-1 team have made an official statement regarding his political or fighting future.

If and when they do, you can be sure to find it right here on MMAmania.com.

(FanPost edited and promoted by MMAmania.com)