Fedor Emelianenko lost for the third time in a row, this time at the hands of Dan Henderson. He recently had his first interview since the July 30 loss. “The Last Emperor” was interviewed by Russia’s 2 Channel and here are some of the quotes as transcribed and translated by LowKick.com
A lot of people are arguing about the stoppage in your last fight with Dan Henderson. Do you think the referee made the right call to stop the fight?
I think the fight was stopped early. But that’s my opinion. We all know that the referees are trying to protect fighters from serious injuries. I don’t want to judge anyone. The refereeing was fair, and if there was some sort of mistake, I don’t think it was intentional.
Would you like to have a rematch with Dan Henderson?
Rematch… I want to fight. But you know, I currently have other things on my mind. I have a new daughter. There were some health issues in my family, but thank God, everything is alright.
What would you like to do after retiring from the sport? Is that something that already crosses your mind?
I would like to continue fighting. But after that, I would definitely share knowledge with younger fighters. And of course, I will try to find myself and be useful for my country.
Some people say that you should “buy” new sparring partners in order to improve as a fighter. What do you think about such statements?
I believe in our guys. I see their future, and believe in their abilities to achieve great things in this sport. That’s why I don’t want to “buy” anyone. There’s a lot of unnecessary talk about my training partners. I don’t want to blame anyone for my streak of defeats. Everyone trained hard so I could achieve positive results.
According to Dana White, you were fired from Strikeforce. Is there any truth in this statement?
That’s Dana White’s style to make comments. I didn’t have a contract with Strikeforce. My current contract is with Showtime. So I think people shouldn’t pay attention to these “loud” comments. I don’t have any obligations for UFC or Strikeforce. Our new contract ensures we don’t have to work directly with these organizations. We have already experienced certain difficulties while working with PRIDE and Affliction. We are trying to avoid any unpleasant consequences.
Below is the video from Russia 2 Channel which is not translated.
