Fedor: Putin called me to express worry about my return

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Given his status as one of the most famous sportsmen in Russia, Fedor Emelianenko has enjoyed a fair amount of pageantry and adoration from fans and celebrities alike. He has even fought in front of his country’s president, Vladimir Putin, on numerous occasions and formed a friendship with the long-reigning leader.

While Fedor initially retired three years ago, Putin – sambo practitioner and 5th degree Judo black belt — remained in touch with the legend and even called him to wish him luck once he announced his return to MMA.

“Yes, we talked,” Fedor revealed to rsport.ru. “He said he would be very worried (with a smile). And he wished me luck.”

Putin has been pictured next to Emelianenko and Jean-Claude Van Damme during the Affliction days and was later ringside for one of Fedor’s last fights against Jeff Monson. Fedor has also been invited numerous times to attend various sports events as Putin’s guest of honor.

Fedor returns to professional competition on Dec. 31 at the Saitama Super Arena for upstart promotion Rizin Fighting Federation. His opponent is yet to be determined.

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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.