Fedor Getting Down To Business

Fedor Emelianenko has canceled a US tour to focus on his January 24th Affliction Day of Reckoning bout with Andrei Arlovski. This is following a loss he received in his home country’s Sambo tournament.

Here is the Sambo loss:

He was quoted in a story from MMAJunkie stating:

“I wish I could see the fans in America to announce the (Arlovski) fight, but I will not be able to attend the press tour as I did for the Tim Sylvia fight,” Emelianenko stated. “I received an incredibly warm welcome the last time I was in the United States and was looking forward to reuniting with my fans. But I must begin to prepare for Arlovski early and under the stringent training regimen and conditions that I have grown accustom to for all of my most dangerous opponents. There are people in MMA who attempt to paint a different picture of who the top fighters in the world are today and I must be fully prepared and focused to defend the reputation and status of my achievements in the sport.”

Affliction can’t be happy about this at all.  In a time where other organizations, besides for the UFC are trying to stay afloat, their main draw has canceled his PR tour.  Affliction needs him to sell tickets and PPV’s but will have to rely on their other starts such as Arlovski, Josh Barnett, Vitor Belfort and Renato Sobral.  None of which carry the #1 spot in their weight classes as Emelianenko, but will have to get the job done.

This was a smart move on Emelianenko’s part and it seems like it was due to his wake up call loss he received in the Sambo tournament.  He has gotten too comfortable at the top and got a reality check.  This is a good thing for him since he still has two months to fully prepare for Arlovski.  I can’t wait. 

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