Fedor Emelianenko will return to action on the New Year’s Eve card in Japan, and his opponent will be announced soon.
MMAFighting.com reports Fedor’s opponent will be revealed Thursday at a press conference in Japan. The new Japanese promotion has been trying to lock in Indian-Japanese heavyweight kickboxer Jaideep Singh as his opponent. Singh is 40-10 (1 NC) in kickboxing but just 1-0 in MMA and that fight came back in 2013. His last kickboxing fight was in 2011.
Emelianenko hasn’t fought since October 7th, 2011, which was when he announced his retirement following a first-round knockout of Pedro Rizzo. Emelianenko is 3-3 in his last six, but after a three-fight losing streak in his last three Strikeforce appearances, he ripped off three straight wins. In his last two bouts, he won by the first-round knockout over less quality opponents.
Related: Emelianenko To Make MMA Return In Japan On New Year’s Eve On Spike TV
The promotion will hold three events in three days at the end of the year on Dec. 29, 30 and 31 with all events expecting to be held at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, with the hope that the Dec. 29 and 31 events will be televised locally on Fuji TV in Japan.
It was reported back in September that that Emelianenko has signed a two-fight deal.
