With a Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title shot opposite Stipe Miocic at UFC 203 on Sept. 10 staring him in the face, mixed martial arts (MMA) mainstay Alistair Overeem will have the opportunity to forever solidify his legacy in the sport.
Unlike Overeem, who currently competes in the best promotion in the world, MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko has never fought in UFC. According to "The Reem" during UFC 203's media lunch earlier this week (transcribed by MMA Fighting), "The Last Emperor" shouldn't be considered the greatest heavyweight of all time because of that reason only.
"He's a friend of mine," said Overeem. "I like him as a person. I never had anything negative with him, even when we were supposed to fight and he declined. But at the time that he could test himself — and he had several occasions — he turned down the UFC. And the UFC is where the competition is at. He declined to do that."
Emelianenko, 39, is widely considered one of the best fighters to ever compete by going undefeated under Pride rule from 2002-2006. However, his return to MMA hasn't been all that impressive over the past few years.
"I think he messed it up with Strikeforce and he totally messed it up in coming back," added Overeem. "He fought Maldonado, Maldonado is a light heavyweight. Fedor is a heavyweight. And he actually lost that fight, right?"
While Overeem may be right that Emelianenko's return to the sport hasn't gone the way many people may have thought, the Russian heavyweight has certainly done enough to be called the greatest of his kind. Overeem is probably better off spending his time gameplanning for Miocic.