In what will likely be the only way a Fedor Emelianenko fight is ever associated with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), his upcoming showdown against Fabio Maldonado on June 17, 2016 will air on the UFC Fight Pass digital network.
Fedor and Maldonado -- a former UFC light heavyweight -- are set to headline Eurasian Fight Night (EFN) 50 in St. Petersburg, Russia. And since RFN already has a agreement with UFC to air its events online, Emelianenko will have the luxury of having the UFC's public relations machine to push his fight.
Albeit to a limited extent.
Fedor, once again, passed on signing with the ZUFFA-owned promotion earlier this year, opting to instead work for Rizin FF, an upstart Japan-based mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion spearheaded by his former PRIDE FC boss, Nobuyuki Sakakibara.
"The Last Emperor" has maintained that fighting for UFC is not completely off the table, but as of this moment, he is still on the outside looking in.
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