Russian MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko has spoken on the decision to remove Russian athletes from amateur competitions by the IMMAF while ruling out a potential meeting with Junior Dos Santos next in the octagon.
The IMMAF suspended the Russian MMA Union (RMMAU) on March 1 while following a recommendation from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that has been heeded by many federations as a response to Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
Speaking on the matter at the studios of St. Petersburg-based media giant Okko, the legendary fighter repeated the need for politics to be kept out of sports but expressed a hope that countries which have sanctioned Russia, and “are trying to put a spoke in our wheels”, will “still come to their senses”.
“They will understand that without Russia they can’t get anywhere,” Emelianenko stated.
Regarding the last fight on his current Bellator contract, Emelianenko shut down talk of facing Junior dos Santos, who is signed to former UFC lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC.