WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko is in discussions to make his second attempt at fighting top-five ranked heavyweight Josh Barnett at an unannounced DREAM event in February 2010. News of the bout was first reported by MMA Recap.
According to the report, Barnett will sign with DREAM, and Strikeforce and M-1 will cross-promote with Fighting and Entertainment Group's Japan-based DREAM promotion to put on the match up between Barnett and Emelianenko.
The epic heavyweight bout between Emelianenko and Barnett was originally set as the main event of Affliction: "Trilogy" on Aug. 1. However, Barnett was pulled from the event after he tested positive for an anabolic steroid in an out-of-competition drug test administered by the California State Athletic Commission. The event was canceled and Affliction eventually folded its MMA operations shortly thereafter.
It's no surprise that the bout is being pursued overseas, as Barnett cannot yet fight on U.S soil because he is still fighting his positive drug test. He has recently been granted a second extension for an appeals hearing that he had requested after the California State Athletic Commission denied his re-licensing due to the outcome of his drug test. His new hearing will be held on Dec. 8.
Following Affliction's demise, Emelianenko signed a three-fight contract with Strikeforce and debuted with the promotion against then-undefeated Brett Rogers on Nov. 7. Emelianenko scored a second-round TKO win in the fight, which was the main event of Strikeforce: "Fedor vs. Rogers." The fight took place in front of 5.46 million viewers, and was broadcast nationally on CBS. The win extended his unbeaten streak to an impressive 28 fights.
Emelianenko has fought the majority of his nine-year career with Rings and Pride, fighting a combined 27 of his 33 career fights with those two promotions, as well as winning each promotion's heavyweight title. He sports a nearly flawless 31-1 MMA record, with 24 of his wins coming by stoppage. His lone career loss was a controversial one, as he was defeated by Tsuyoshi Kosaka via first-round TKO in Dec. 2000. The bout was stopped just 17 seconds into the fight via doctor stoppage due to a cut.
"The Last Emperor" sports an impressive resume of notable career wins over the likes of Ricardo Arona, Heath Herring, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (x2), Renato Sobral, Mark Coleman (x2), Mirko Filipovic, Matt Lindland, Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski.
Barnett (24-5) is currently on a four-fight winning streak. However, he has not fought since defeating Gilbert Yvel at Affliction: "Day of Reckoning" in January. In non-MMA action, he recently won the ultra-heavyweight (over 215 lbs.) division among the black belts at the World Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship 2009 on Nov. 8.
Over his 12-year career, Barnett has competed for other notable promotions such as SuperBrawl, Pancrese, Pride, Sengoku and the UFC. He has finished 20 of his 24 career wins, including 15 by submission, and holds notable career wins over the likes of Dan Severn, Pedro Rizzo, Randy Couture, Aleksander Emelianenko, Jeff Monson and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
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