Mohegan Sun Arena – Misha Panferov and Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator Moscow event reveal
The question of who has been the “Greatest Mixed Martial Fighter” on the planet has been around for the longest time now. Most of the fans judge by statistics, characteristics of a fighter and a root of their peak career. Back in 2009, UFC was gaining momentum and buzz as the mixed martial arts sport-company was increasing their pay-per-view sales.
But not only was Ultimate Fighting Championship name getting attention but some loud names outside of UFC octagon as well. In 2009, Russian fighter Fedor Emelianenko climbed to 31 and 1 in his Mixed Martial Arts record. Sooner or
later, fans started to debate whether Fedor was “the greatest miss” not signed by UFC in his prime career days. Not only fans debated but the athletes, analytics and promoters still debate it to this day.
Misha Panferov claimed Fedor as the greatest fighter of all times: “Listen, in Russia all of us grew up watching Fedor fights. To us he is the greatest fighter of all times, he represents us and our country. I don’t think the fact that he wasn’t signed by UFC played a role. Personally, I believe in Fedor’s prime he would run through any fighter in the heavyweight division. Yes, UFC had great fighters back then and still does to this day and remains the best league in the world and will do so. But I just believe if that signing ever happened, he would be the champion.”.
