» Fighter: Aleksander Emelianenko

Fighters.com Heavyweight Champion “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko’s (31-1) trainer, Vladimir Voronov, appeared on cable television station Russia Today Wednesday to talk about Emelianenko and Voronov’s first meeting with the world’s top heavyweight.

Read More About Vladimir Voronov: Fedor Emelianenko Was The Chosen One, Brother Aleks Killed a Bear For Fun…

Aleksander Emelianenko (12-3) told Sports.ru Tuesday that he will rematch with Fighters.com’s seventh-ranked heavyweight “Babyface Assassin” Josh Barnett (19-5) at Affliction: Day of Reckoning 24 January.

“There is already an agreement that on the show organized by Affliction and M-1 Global 24 January, I will have a rematch with former UFC Champion Josh Barnett,” Emelianenko said.

However, Fighters.com has learned Barnett’s most likely opponent for Day of Reckoning, and it’s not Aleks.  Fighters.com thinks it’s Aleks’s wishful thinking.

Emelianenko was scheduled to fight at Affliction’s debut event in July but was denied a license by the California State Athletic Commission at the last minute.

Heavyweight “Hurricaine” Gilbert Yvel (30-12-1) will fight in the co-main event at M-1 Challenge 9 in St. Petersburg 21 November versus an opponent to be named soon, Fighters.com learned from M-1’s Russian division today.

M-1 told Fighters.com that Yvel will not rematch Red Devil heavyweight Roman Zentsov (17-12), who knocked Yvel out in a 2006 PRIDE fight.

The event will be lead by the return of Fighters.com’s tenth-ranked heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko (12-3) after the commission debacle before Affliction’s debut in Anaheim, east of Los Angeles, 19 July.  Emelianenko will fight Korean Sang Soo Lee (9-4).

The event will also feature a team format with bouts between Russia’s Red Devil team versus Korea and Russia’s Legion team versus Holland.

Read More About Gilbert Yvel to Co-Headline M-1 Challenge with Emelianenko…

Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3) is scheduled to fight Sang Soo Lee (9-4) in St. Petersburg 21 November, M-1 announced Sunday.

The match-up is Emelianenko’s first since being denied a license to fight “Headhunter” Paul Buentello (26-10) by the California State Athletic Commission in July.

Emelianenko publicly denied rumors that he was denied a license because of a positive test for Hepatitis.

Emelianenko rolled through Silvao Santos (1-1) in St. Petersburg 3 April.

Lee tapped Emelianenko’s Red Devil teammate Roman Zentsov (17-3) in a triangle choke in Seoul 29 August.

The fight will feature as one of two Super Fights at M-1 Challenge 9.

A rematch between badass British pugilist Wayne Buck (4-1) and Italian Muay Thai wrecker Matteo Minonzio (7-6) headlines a 13-fight card in Nottingham 27 September.

Minonzio forced a doctor stoppage “W” over Buck in Nottingham in July, handing Buck his first MMA loss.

Buck is a retired boxer hailing from Nottingham and looking for revenge.  He ended his career in the ring in 2000 at 10-4-1, winning his final five fights.

Saturday afternoon before the fights, Red Devil fighter and coach Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3) will hold a seminar featuring DREAM Middleweight GP Champion Gegard Mousasi (24-2-1), UFC welterweight “Outlaw” Dan Hardy (19-6), and “The Machine” Ian Freeman (19-7-1).

Just a week after winning a split decision over Brandon Thatch (3-1) in Beverly Hills, north of Los Angeles, Brandon Magana (6-1) will fight Red Devil’s Erik Oganov (7-7) in Nottingham.

Read More About Minonzio and Buck Rematch, Magana Fights Again at M-1 Challenge…

Elusive Russian Sergei Kharitonov (15-3) breached Fighters.com’s Heavyweight Top Ten in September without having fought for a year.

Kharitonov TKO’d “Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem (28-11) in Yokohama in September 2007; but, has been more active on the rumor mill than in the ring since.

He was floated as “Cro Cop” Mirko Filipovic’s (23-6-2) opponent at DREAM.4 in June and lately was mentioned as a challenger for the EliteXC Heavyweight Championship versus “Bigfoot” Antonio Silva (11-1).

Kharitonov found his way into neither fight and may have a short stint as a top ten big boy as fighters beneath him line-up legit matches.

A spot opened for Kharitonov when “Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring (28-14) was mauled by physical phenom Brock Lesnar (2-1) in Minneapolis 9 August, shoveling Herring out of the eighth rank.

Read More About Fighters.com’s September Heavyweight Rankings…

Affliction on Wednesday confirmed a middleweight bout between “The Law” Matt Lindland (21-5) and “Phenom” Vitor Belfort (17-8) and announced a heavyweight match between “Headhunter” Paul Buentello (26-10) and Roy Nelson (13-2), and to take place in Las Vegas 11 October.

Belfort must first be cleared to fight by a doctor.  He is currently serving a 180-day medical suspension.

Buentello won a unanimous decision over “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge (23-18-1) at Affliction: Banned in July.

Nelson, the IFL Heavyweight Champion, most recently won via first-round TKO over “Hillbilly Heartthrob” Brad Imes (11-5) in May.

The Buentello-Nelson match is part of the preliminary card which will air on HDNet before switching to the main card on pay-per-view, according to MMA Junkie.

Affliction also announced that IFL lightweight Chris Horodecki (12-1) has signed a three-fight deal with them and will make his Affliction debut at the October event.

No opponent has yet been named for Horodecki.

Not participating in the event is Fighters.com’s tenth-ranked heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3), who is still dealing with licensing issues.

He was denied a license by the California State Athletic Commission for his scheduled fight in July.

From Russia with gloves, “Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko(28-1) stamped his heavyweight dominance on “Maine-iac” Tim Sylvia’s (24-5) head in Anaheim, east of Los Angeles, 19 July.

His dismantling of “Big” Tim in 36 seconds earned him the Fighters.com Heavyweight Championship, jumping from sixth and dumping Sylvia from third to seventh.

The “W” strips naked UFC President Dana White’s proclamation that all other promotions are the minor leagues, at least at north of 205-pounds.

In fact, Emelianenko’s victory makes clear that the Octagon hasn’t been the proving grounds for the world’s top heavyweights for quite some time.

The UFC Champ, second-ranked “Minotauro” Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-4-1), took a thrashing from Sylvia in February before tapping the two-time UFC titlist in a guillotine.

Nogueira loses his Fighters.com Heavyweight Championship, falling into the top contender spot, but a top contender whose register already records two UD losses to the new champ four years ago.

Nog’ is set to clash with un-ranked former UFC Champ Frank Mir (11-3) after Mir tapped rook’ Brock Lesnar (1-1), which tells you all you need to know about the UFC heavyweight class.

But, Emelianenko’s new promoter, Affliction, is playing the name game too.

Read More About Fighters.com’s August Heavyweight Rankings…

Russian heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3) spoke with Life.ru last week about his absence from the Affliction: Banned card 19 July, where he was scheduled to face “Headhunter” Paul Buentello (26-10).

Emelianenko insisted that everything is in order with his health, and that the reason for his absence was his failure to meet the California State Athletic Commission’s deadlines.

“From a medical point of view everything is fully in order. I got through the medical board successfully and received my license to fight without any problems,” he said.

“But the fact is that in California the commission is very strict about allowing you to fight. One of the main conditions… is that you must pass all the tests on time. I should have been in America on the thirteenth [of July]. They gave me my visa only on the fourteenth, and our tickets were purchased only on the fifteenth of July. I was just late.”

Fighters.com’s ninth-ranked heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko (13-3) wasn’t allowed to weigh-in Friday in Anaheim, east of Los Angeles, before his Saturday night fight in Affliction with “Headhunter” Paul Buentello (25-10).

A source in Buentello’s entourage cited “medical issues” as the excuse given to them by Affliction officials.

Spokesperson for Emelianenko, Ilona Kolesnichenko told Fighters.com, “Emelianenko  did not meet CSAC licensing standards.  There is nothing about medical issues!”

“We were all lined up [to weigh-in],” Buentello explained to Fighters.com.  “He even waved to me.”

On stage just before Emelianenko was to take the scale, Affliction VP Tom Atencio was visably frustrated and talking hard-and-fast down the curtained walkway to the platform.

After several tense moments, Emelianenko and Buentello were simply skipped and no official announcement was made to the crowd or media.

Read More About Aleks Denied License by CSAC…