Report: Fedor to earn guaranteed $2.5 million for NYE fight in Japan

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Last weekend, legendary Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko was brought out during the live Bellator Dynamite broadcast and announced as the headlining act for former Pride FC boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara’s new Japanese promotion.

After months of shopping around for the best deals in the industry, which included fielding offers from the UFC, WSOF and several Russian promotions, Fedor agreed to accept a one-fight contract with Sakakibara to fight on the New Year’s Eve show, December 31^st on Spike TV.

The Russian’s decision to nostalgically return to Japan and work for his former employer surprised many fans and pundits who hoped that the 38-year-old would test himself in the UFC. However, a report from MMAFighting.com’s Dave Meltzer in his latest Wrestling Observer newsletter revealed that Fedor was guaranteed $2.5 million to fight on NYE.

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Given that the deal could be extended past the December 31^st showdown, Fedor could potentially make $5 million for his first two fights back following a three-year hiatus from MMA.

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About the author

Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.