Thursday 2 June 2011

Will Fedor Emelianenko retire with a loss to Dan Henderson?

Fedor-busted_medium
M-1 Global President Vadim Finkelchtein seems to think so.
Famed Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko will try to snap a two-fight losing streak when he faces Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Dan Henderson in the headlining bout of the July 30 Strikeforce event in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
And it could be the "Last" time we see the "Emporer" inside a cage.
Emelianenko (31-3) was bounced from the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament earlier this year after the cageside doctor deemed him unfit to answer the bell for round three of his quarterfinal bout against Antonio Silva.
Aside from the shock of his second consecutive loss, it was clear the former PRIDE deity was being manhandled for most of the fight, leaving many fans wondering if what was once considered the greatest heavyweight MMA fighter in history was outdated and overmatched.
Retirement talk was quickly scrapped a few days following the "Fedor vs. Silva" event, but as Finkelchtein tells Championat.ru (via LowKick.com), it could be three and out:
"I think that if Fedor loses to Dan Henderson, he will retire from mixed martial arts. And like I said many times before, it will be his decision and we (M-1 Global) have no influence of any kind on whatever he decides to do. It's all up to him.But we hope for the best. Fedor is very motivated, and will be more than ready for this fight. He has a new goal, and is fully concentrated on reaching it."
Will the "H-bomb" drop on Mother Russia this July?
After an uninspiring debut saw him fall short against Jake Shields at Strikeforce: "Nashville" back in 2010,  Henderson (27-8) redeemed himself by knocking out Renato "Babalu" Sobral in St. Louis later that year.
The win was enough to earn him a title shot against then-division champion Rafael Cavalcante back on March 5 and "Hendo" made the most of the opportunity by knocking out "Feijao" in the third round with his deadly right hand.
With Strikeforce suffering from a lack of depth in its 205-pound division, Henderson immediately set his sights on the down-but-not-out Emelianenko, who may be one loss away from permanently hanging up the gloves.

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