Dana White Downplays Fedor Emelianenko’s ‘MMA Great’ Status Post Retirement: “He Never Got to Test Himself”

Legendary MMA fighter Fedor Emelianenko retired from the sport recently. He contested in his last bout this weekend at Bellator 290. However, he ended up suffering a devastating first-round TKO loss.

While it wasn’t an ideal way to leave the sport, Fedor Emelianenko is one of the pioneers of the MMA. He is one of those fighters who helped to build MMA into what it is today, and that could never be taken away from him.

Moreover, the legendary heavyweight is also considered to be one of the greatest of all time. However, the boss of the world’s leading MMA promotion, Dana White, certainly does not agree with this statement.

Dana White does not consider Fedor Emelianenko as one of the GOATs

It is worth noting that while Fedor Emelianenko had quite a legendary career, he never competed in the UFC. And that seems to be the reason why Dana White does not consider him one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.

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While speaking at the UFC Vegas 68 post-fight press conference, Dana White spoke about how the Russian never really got to test himself. He said, “He never got to test himself over here. But I never was one guy that thought he was one of the greatest of all time.”

Fedor Emelianenko retired with a professional fighting record of 40-7 under his name. He has competed in multiple promotions during his career, including Strikeforce and Pride FC.

White announces the return of Conor McGregor

The news that the MMA world was eagerly waiting for was announced by Dana White recently. The highly anticipated return of Conor McGregor has been confirmed by the UFC boss. McGregor has been out of the UFC for nearly two years but is set to be back later this year.

Conor McGregor will be returning to coach in the next season of The Ultimate Fighter against Michael Chandler. The upcoming season is start set to premiere on May 30th and will run through August 15th.

 

 

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Following the end of the season, the two will take on each other inside the octagon. However, there is no venue or date for the fight finalized as of yet. That said, it will be interesting to see if Conor McGregor can return to winning ways upon his return to the UFC or not.

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Are you guys excited about the return of Conor McGregor? What do you think about his match-up? Do you guys agree with Dana White’s words?