Strikeforce Fedor vs. Silva: Will Emelianenko vs. Couture Ever Happen?

Former champions in the UFC and PRIDE respectively, Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko are two of the greatest and most recognized fighters in MMA history. So, it should come as no surprise that MMA fans have long dreamed of a superfight between Couture and Emelianenko.

Unfortunately, the chances of these two MMA legends ever fighting each other are getting slimmer by the day. For several reasons, it is beginning to appear that this once highly-sought-after fight will only be played out in the imaginations of the fans.

When Couture announced his retirement in October 2007, he cited the UFC's inability to secure a fight with Emelianenko as a primary reason. In his retirement interview with Brian Knapp of The Fight Network, Couture explained, "I'm tired of swimming upstream at this stage with the management of the UFC. It only makes sense at this point in my career to fight Fedor Emelianenko, and since he’s now signed with another organization, I feel like it's time to resign and focus on my other endeavors." 

Obviously, Couture eventually returned to the UFC, but not for a fight with Emelianenko. In his return fight, Couture lost his UFC Heavyweight Championship to Brock Lesnar.

Since returning from his 2007 retirement, Couture has gone 3-2 with wins against modest competition. After considering retirement again in recent months, Couture accepted a fight with Lyoto Machida at UFC 129. Couture has said that he is only interested in "intriguing" fights at this point in his career. 

Apparently, Couture isn't the only one of this pair to consider calling it a career either. In a recent interview with MMAFighting's Ariel Helwani, Fedor Emelianenko said the following when asked if he had considered retiring after his recent loss to Fabricio Werdum:

“To tell the truth, I certainly was. I am thinking about retiring but that’s not because of the loss. I used to think about it before [the loss to Werdum]. This is just because of my age. Because of my age, because for the heavyweight sportsman my age is considered a very big one. So sometimes I’m thinking about maybe finishing my sports career because also my former injuries started reminding me about themselves. But I hope that I still will have some time to fight.”

To add to the unlikeliness of a fight between Couture and Emelianenko ever happening, Couture will have only one fight remaining on his contract with the UFC after his fight with Machida. At 47-years-old, there is a strong possibility that Couture would retire after completing his current contract.

Even if Couture were to re-ink, Emelianenko has just signed a "multi-fight" deal with Strikeforce.

Even if we further suppose that Couture continues fighting through the completion of Emelianenko's obligation to Strikeforce, it is far from certain that Emelianenko would sign with the UFC.

On multiple occasions, UFC President Dana White has attempted to negotiate a contract with Emelianenko to no avail.

MMA fans can dream all they want, but the odds of this fantasy fight ever happening have never looked bleaker.

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva Results, News And More

Sean Smith has been a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA since October 2010. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @BR_Sean_Smith.