Fedor Emelianenko Vs. Cro Cop match for New Year's Eve

By Kevin Iole, Yahoo! Sports (part of his article)

Emelianenko is still negotiating a contract, but it seems inconceivable he'd go anywhere other than the UFC given the company has nearly all of the world's remaining top heavyweights under contract.

A few weeks ago, during an informal telephone conversation with White, I asked him if he'd try to make an Emelianenko-Cro Cop match for New Year's Eve.

"I'd love that," White said. "You'd love it. We're hard cores. But the hard core fans who know who Fedor is are a minority. Believe me when I tell you that. My (UFC) fans don't know who he is. I'd have to build him up. You can't just say 'Fedor's here,' and open the doors and expect people to come in. It doesn't work that way.

"I even had to build up Cro Cop. It's taking a while for us to do that. After we introduce him to our fans, then you can do that kind of a thing."

But on that Thursday conference call, when White was asked directly whether he'd give Emelianenko a shot at the UFC heavyweight title, which will be contested at UFC 74 when Randy Couture defends against Gabriel Gonzaga, he said yes.

Either way, two bouts could be put at the top which would almost guarantee it to be the richest fight in MMA history.

See also previous news
Remy Bonjasky, Gilbert Iyvel and Ivan Hippolyte come to help Mirko Cro Cop