Sakakibara: Rumored 2.5 million dollars Emelianenko fee "not true"

Emelianenko in action

– Fedor 'The Last Emperor' Emelianenko is all set to come out of retirement for a match at the New Year's Eve event in Japan. Emelianenko after a three-year hiatus from mixed martial arts has announced his comeback and will fight at the event for a new regional organization in Japan under the leadership of former Pride FC boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara. It was believed that a very lucrative deal was in place for Emelianenko. As of now there is no proper value in place according to former PRIDE FC boss Sakakibara.

Sakakibara speaking with R-Sport via Bloody Elbow spoke about how different organizations approached Fedor with huge sums of money and that his decision to return to Japan was not money oriented. He said.

"Information on the $ 2.5 million fee - this is absolutely not true. I'm sure that during various negotiations with US organizations, Fedor was offered a much larger amount than our options. The return of Fedor in Japan has completely nothing to do with money, and it is a fact."

Emelianenko who speculated for a while about joining UFC would certainly add to his legacy during his Japanese return. He has been a legend inside the ring and would definitely help upcoming talent and the industry as a whole. The announcement was made at the Bellator MMA 142 Dynamite 1 event on Sep 19th 2015 in San Jose by Nobuyuki Sakibara along with Bellator MMA as the partners. It is Sakakibara who will promote the event along with Bellator chief Scott Coker.

Sakakibara talks about how Fedor Emelianenko’s return would help the industry in general and will also help to inspire upcoming talent. He praises Emelianenko saying that he is an integral part of MMA history and will always have that legendary status.

"One of the main reasons [for Fedor's return] is the development of the future of MMA," said Sakakibara. "Fedor was a legendary champion of PRIDE, he did not suffer a single defeat and is an integral part of the history of mixed martial arts and becoming part of a unique organization. Very soon, we are going to hold a press conference here in Tokyo, which will explain many details of the New Year's show, including the name of the new organization."

This would have disappointed many UFC fans as they would have loved to see one final bout between Emelianenko and Werdum. Werdum had this to say about his former rival.