Strikeforce News: Fedor Emelianenko to Make Return to the Cage in July

If you thought Fedor Emelianenko was close to retirement, think again.

After Fedor's loss to Antonio Silva on February 12th, it seemed the storied career of one of the all-time greats was over.

But a return home to Russia and many stories later about how his loss could be attributed to a missing priest, Fedor is now making his return to the cage. And for the first time in his career, it will be under the Zuffa brand name.

“Fedor’s gonna fight sometime in July,” Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” on Wednesday. “It’s probably toward the end of July or mid-July, but we have fights with Fedor that we’re gonna honor and continue forward. We’re gonna do the co-branding exercise that we do with M-1 every time we do fights with them.”

So sometime in the month of July, "The Last Emperor" will make his return to the cage, versus an opponent to be named later.

“The opponent has not been chosen, but I think having Fedor involved close to the tournament as an alternate is definitely a possibility,” Coker said.

Fedor would be coming off of two straight losses at the hands of Fabricio Werdum and Silva. Coker was asked if Fedor was on a fight-to-fight basis now that he had lost two in a row despite having three fights left on his contract.

“You gotta perform. I think he did a good job against Silva, and that worked out the way he did, but he’s still a competitive fighter that can compete at the highest level on any given Saturday night,” said Coker. “I think this next one’s gonna be very important. He’s gonna have to perform,"

Fedor is considered by many to be the greatest fighter the MMA world has ever seen. From April 2001 to June 2010, Fedor did not lose a single fight. In his career Fedor has become the Pride heavyweight champion and has amassed a career MMA record of 31-3-0.

Fedor's loss in February to Silva came by a doctor's stoppage after the second round.