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Sorry Randy, but it looks like Fedor’s found someone new.

M-1 has issued an official statement publicly calling out the new UFC Heavyweight Champ, Brock Lesnar, to fight their very own Fedor Emelianenko.

Does that mean Fedor is going to fight in the UFC? No, of course not. Why would you even think that? Just like Randy, M-1 is offering to do a co-promotion between them, the UFC, and Affliction.

A few days ago, UFC President Dana White made a few comments to The Boston Herald in reference to Fedor Emelianenko.

“The door is wide open. I want Fedor to come in and fight the best. At the end of the day, I’m a fight fan. That’s what I really am, and I want to see the best fight the best. Let’s find out if he’s the best. I want to do it.”

Yesterday, we passed along news about Affliction and Donald Trump jumping on board with M-1’s reality show, Fighting Fedor. Apparently, that is the product of a “formal” partnership that has formed between the two organizations. Even though they worked together on “Banned,” there wasn’t formal agreement in place. However, that has changed now, and their new relationship is expected to be announced at today’s press conference.

You won’t have to wait for all the details though. MMA Weekly spoke to both parties and has all sorts of info on future events, contracts, and more. Here’s a quick rundown.

• First “joint venture” will likely take place on Jan. 24 at The Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The main event will feature Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski.
• Second “joint venture” will likely take place in April or May and feature Josh Barnett vs. Aleksander Emelianenko (unclear if this is planned as a main event). M-1 is confident Aleks will be issued a license to fight. His rumored medical issues have apparently been resolved. No indication if this card will include boxing.
• Fedor’s thumb is fully healed.
• M-1 confirmed Fedor will definitely NOT be fighting in Japan on NYE. We can all breathe a collective sigh of relief.
• Gegard Mousasi may fight in Japan on NYE, but remains “a very feasible” option for Affliction’s January event.
• Affliction and M-1 have signed an exclusive worldwide deal with Fedor. So definitely no Fedor vs. Randy in the UFC. (Like that was ever going to happen anyways)

We’ll keep you posted if anything else is announced at the press conference.

A quick side note, Sherdog.com is reporting that Matt Lindland vs. Babalu Sobral at middleweight is in the works for the January event.

The M-1 Challenge airs every Friday night on HDNet at 8PM ET.

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The M-1 Challenge airs every Friday night on HDNet at 8PM ET.

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