Fedor Emelianenko’s manager reveals they’ll be pursuing a possible fight against Kevin Randleman in Russia

Vadim Finkelstein, the manager of formerly ranked number one fighter on the planet Fedor Emelianenko, has revealed that former UFC heavyweight champion, Kevin Randleman has been lined up as the Russian’s next opponent rather than slope off into retirement.
Speaking via Fighters Only Magazine, Vadim said:

“Fedor is healthy and full of strength, he is ready to fight. Fedor is 34 years old. This is the best peak for heavyweight fighters. Dan Henderson, for instance, fights at 41 and wins.  Emelianenko can fight for five more years at a high level. For him, this is just the beginning. He has no big injuries, and because of that, it wouldn’t be right to stop now.”

“We want to make a fight in Russia. We started working towards this. If all goes well, in the autumn we will organize a show in Moscow or in St. Petersburg, where Fedor’s fight will be the main event.”

“There are many possibilities. I personally want the opponent to be one of the great fighters from Pride’s best times. It would be good if it was an interesting and competitive fighter, like for instance, Kevin Randleman. At any rate, we will chose a competitive, globally respected fighter.”

When asked about the situation concerning Fedor and his contract with Showtime, Vadim said:

“With Showtime, we had agreed to three fights with an option for one more. The contract could change if Fedor lost two in a row, which he did, and now the contract is stopped. This is a normal working process. Logically, Showtime will change some things in the contract. But our cooperation will not stop there.”

“Showtime is interested in working with us, and we are interested to work with them. To mark that, Showtime will show Fedor’s fight in Russia. This is a big and expensive project, which will take our cooperation to new heights.”

The move to pursue a fight with someone like Randleman will likely raise a few eyebrows amongst fans as the former UFC heavyweight champion has lost his last four fights and nine of his last eleven. Is this the kind of fight M-1 Global will rely on to keep “The Last Emperor’s” flagging legacy alive?