The UFC has seen many great fighters with unique skill sets since its inception. It is evident the biggest MMA promotion will have the best fighters. However, there was one fighter who was a staple in MMA for over twenty years, Fedor Emelianenko. UFC color commentator and podcast host Joe Rogan recently expressed his regret for not getting the opportunity to watch the Russian legend compete live.

Fedor Emelianenko is arguably one of the best, if not the best, fighters the MMA world has ever seen. He burst into the scene in 2000, defeating his opponent and carrying on a 4-fight winning streak before suffering his first loss. Following that, he racked up another winning streak that is up there among the greatest undefeated runs ever with 27 victories in a row.

Joe Rogan wanted to watch Fedor Emelianenko live

While Joe Rogan has seen the best fighters in the UFC in attendance, he never got the opportunity to watch ‘The Last Emperor’ compete live. He felt dejected while mentioning it. The 55-year-old said, “I really feel like I should have watched Fedor [Emelianenko] fight live.” Furthermore, Rogan believes that he should have just flown to Japan without thinking much of anything. He added, “He was in his prime. I should have just flown out to Japan.”

Whenever someone starts a conversation regarding Fedor Emelianenko, Joe Rogan claims to never stop talking about how good the Russian was. The JRE host has all the respect in the world for Emelianenko, regardless of the fact that he never fought in the UFC. “That’s something that’s like, that dude? I’m like, ‘You wanna talk about a legend? I mean, he could do it all,'” said Joe Rogan.

Why didn’t Emelianenko fight in the UFC?

Most fighters dream of grabbing an opportunity to fight inside the Octagon due to the sheer exposure of the promotion. However, there are certain times when negotiations tend to break down, which was evident after Francis Ngannou left the UFC earlier in 2023. Like most fighters, Fedor Emelianenko engaged in a contract negotiation with Dana White‘s promotion, but both parties could not come to an agreement.

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During an appearance on the MMA Hour before his last fight against Ryan Bader, He mentioned his missed opportunity of getting to fight in the UFC. Emelianenko said, “If it was supposed to happen, it’d have happened. If it didn’t happen, it didn’t have to happen.” Considering his accomplishments in the MMA world, he wasn’t disheartened to have missed out on Dana White’s promotion.

Read More: Clip of Mark Coleman’s Distressed Daughters Meeting Fedor Emelianenko After Father’s One-Sided Beatdown to Russian Legend Has Fans Gushing Over “Heartwarming” Moment

Fedor Emelianenko retired at Bellator 290 and many MMA figures came into the cage and congratulated him in person. Now he has his protégé, Vadim Nemkov, fighting in the same promotion and dominating the light heavyweight division.

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