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Ultimate Fighting Championship
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UFC: Brock Lesnar vs Fedor Emelianenko is only fight Dana White regrets never making

  • UFC president says he couldn’t get deal done with Fedor for super fight
  • White says Russian legend was set to fight former UFC heavyweight champion Lesnar at Texas Stadium

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Brock Lesnar challenges Daniel Cormier after Cormier’s heavyweight championship fight against Stipe Miocic at T-Mobile Arena on July 7, 2018 in Las Vegas. Photo: AFP
Nicolas Atkin

Many MMA fans have regrets about never seeing Fedor Emelianenko fight in the UFC. None more so than the UFC president himself, it seems.

Dana White said in a recent interview with UFC.com that matching the legendary Russian against former UFC heavyweight champion and WWE star Brock Lesnar remains his only matchmaking regret

Quite the claim, given the UFC’s run of over 500 events since 2003.

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“The only fight that I wanted to make that was never made was Brock Lesnar vs Fedor Emelianenko,” White said. “We were going to do it at Texas Stadium. But I couldn’t get a deal done with Fedor, so it never happened.”

Fedor Emelianenko (left) with Tom Atencio and Donald Trump after a fight at the Honda Center on July 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California. Photo: Tiffany Rose/WireImage
Fedor Emelianenko (left) with Tom Atencio and Donald Trump after a fight at the Honda Center on July 19, 2008 in Anaheim, California. Photo: Tiffany Rose/WireImage
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White has previously revealed he was in advanced negotiations to make the fight in 2012. Lesnar (5-3, 1 no contest) has since retired twice from MMA, while former Pride heavyweight champion Emelianenko (39-6, 1 no contest) has come out of retirement for a series of farewell fights with Bellator.

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