Fedor Emelianenko is widely regarded as one of the best heavyweights in the world. He has drawn criticism as of late for not fighting top tier talent. In his last fight, Fedor submitted Matt Lindland, a fighter two weight classes his minor, in controversial fashion when he used the ring ropes as leverage to take Lindland down.

The world-renowned heavyweight fighter has recently signed a contract with the M-1 Global organization and now, the fans ask, who will he fight?

Enter “The Snowman� Jeff Monson.

Jeff Monson is a world-class jiu-jitsu practitioner and a UFC veteran. His last fight in the UFC was for the heavyweight championship, but he ended up losing a unanimous decision to 6’8 UFC heavyweight Tim Sylvia.

This bout was the last fight on Monson’s contract and it was expected that he would re-sign with the UFC. He declined offers from the Ultimate Fighting Championship because he was pursuing a fight with Fedor Emelianenko . The fight would have taken place through the Bodog Fight organization.

In the end, Fedor declined the fight and ended up squaring off with Lindland, leaving the competition status of Jeff Monson in limbo. Now that M-1 has signed Fedor, they have to pair him up with the upper echelon of talent that the fans expect Fedor to face.

When asked about the Fedor fight in a recent interview with roguemag.com, Monson said:

“Yeah, it looks a go- and I can’t wait to have a shot at what most call the best guy out there. It’s a good possibility at the moment but we will get this fight soon I hope!, first time when I was supposed to fight him it didn’t happen but this time the possibility is great, and I am very excited!�

I believe this will be a very exciting fight for the fans and a great way to kickoff M-1 Global as a main event. Monson’s world-class grappling skills will allow him able to neutralize Fedor’s Russian sambo ground game. Fedor has won 14 of his 23 fights by submission so Monson’s jiu-jitusu will obviously be a concern for the Russian fighter.

Photo: Jeff Monson courtesy of pridefc.com

Randy White held a press conference at his Xtreme Couture Gym on Thursday. The main topic discusses was his resignation from the UFC

Here are some notes from the conference.

Randy’s reasons for resignation

• Couture said that he did not get a bonus in his last fight with Gabriel Gonzaga this fight was a successful heavyweight title defense where Randy won via TKO. He says he was given no explanation as to why he did not receive a bonus for the Gonzaga fight.
• Randy says he knows what the UFC offered Russian MMA fighter Fedor Emelianenko. He says what Fedor was offered as a signing bonus from the UFC was more then he ever made in a single fight. Randy considered this a slap in the face.
• Randy knows what a lot of other fighters were being paid in bonuses and feels that he should have been compensated just as generously.
• Randy stresses his resignation is not about the money, it’s about the mistreatment he received from a company he has given 11 years to. He is an ambassador to the sport and helped build the UFC to what it is today.
• Randy brought his concerns to the attention of Dana White and the Fertitta’s two weeks before he left for South Africa. He did not hear a response from either party. He arrived at the Anaheim, California show with his letter of resignation in hand but waited to see if his concerns would be acknowledged. Again, his concerns were not addressed.
• Randy says he’s given everything he has to the UFC and just wants to be treated with respect. It’s disappointing it had come to this.

Misc. Notes

• Couture says he does not want to get into a war of words with Dana White. He doesn’t think Dana is a bad guy.
• Couture has not retired from MMA, just resigned from the UFC.
• Randy cannot fight elsewhere for a minimum of nine months.
• Says loyalty is still with the UFC.
• Says he was offered three million dollars to fight Fedor Emelianenko in Bodog Fight and turned it down due to his loyalty to the UFC.
• He made his living and reputation with the UFC, and didn’t want to leave the organization, but felt he had to.
  Randy Couture says that if his resignation from the UFC as heavyweight champion of the world helps increase the pay scale for fighters, then that is a good thing.
• Randy says he’d like to see medical coverage for fighters.
• Again stresses this is about principle of the matter, not the money.

The video interview will be up on the Pro Elite website later in the day. Check out www.proelite.com for more details

Former UFC heavyweight champion and UFC light heavyweight champion Randy Couture will hold a press conference at his Xtreme Couture gym today at 4:30pm ET.

Randy is expected to discuss the remarks made by UFC president Dana White that he “owns� Randy Couture. He is also expected to discuss a Yahoo! Sports report that he makes between $3.25 million-$3.75 million per fight.

Sean O’Heir Public Relations Director at Xtreme Couture had this to say:

“We at Xtreme Couture feel that it is important for Randy’s side of the story to be heard. We are glad to work with the Pro Elite team to help deliver his message directly to his fans, unadulterated and unfiltered as he says it. Pro Elite has done a marvelous job streaming live broadcasts of MMA events around the world. We are excited that they will bring their attention to detail and expertise to Randy’s Press Conference.”

I will bring you some key highlights from the press conference when it has concluded.

The MMA match that fans have dreamed of for the past seven years is finally going to take place.

Chuck “The Iceman� Liddell Vs. “The Axed Murderer� Wanderlei Silva

The fans have wanted to see this fight for years. The fight came close to being signed on several occasions, but due to contractual obligations and the back and forth bickering between the UFC and Pride, the fight never materialized.

Earlier in the year the Ultimate Fighting Championship purchased Pride. Soon after, Dana inked Wanderlei Silva to a contract with the UFC.

And now, after seven years of anticipation, the fight has been signed to take place on December 29th, 2007 at UFC 79.

Silva left, Liddell Right

Tonight, on the SpikeTV Scream Awards, UFC president Dana White will make the following announcement:

“As you know, on Dec. 29 at UFC 79 this season’s coaches of ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ Matt Hughes and Matt Serra, will face off for the UFC welterweight title. But also, we’re adding to that card the most anticipated fight in mixed martial arts history. The fight that I’ve been waiting for, the fans have been waiting for. Finally it’s going to happen.

“The Iceman, Chuck Liddell, will face off against Pride superstar Wanderlei Silva. It’s a perfect way to end 2007.”

This fight is a must win for both fighters. Silva and Liddell are both coming off of back-to-back losses. Silva has been knocked out by Mirko “Cro Cop� and Dan Henderson while Liddell was knocked out by Quinton “Rampage� Jackson and recently lost a split decision to Keith Jardine.

UFC 78: Validation will be the first mixed martial arts event to be held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship in New Jersey since June 4, 2005’s UFC 53: Heavy Hitters. UFC 53 took place in Atlantic City.
UFC 78 will take place on November 17, 2007 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

The main event will feature The Ultimate Fighter 2 heavyweight winner Rashad Evans against season three’s light heavyweight winner Michael Bisping. Fans have critisized this main event across the internet. The fight has no title implications nor is it a grudge match. Tickets were originally supposed to go on sale Saturday, September 29th, but sales were pushed back to October 4th. It seems like the UFC scrambled to put together a main event at the last minute but it should be an interesting match up none the less.

The fight card is as follows:

Main Card Bouts:
-Rashad Evans vs. Michael Bisping
-Spencer Fisher vs. Frankie Edgar
-Houston Alexander vs. Thiago Silva
-David Terrell vs. Ed Herman
-Karo Parisyan vs. TBA

Preliminary Bouts:
-Thiago Alves vs. Ryo Chonan
-Akihiro Gono vs. Tamdan McCrory
-Marcus Aurelio vs. Luke Caudillo
-Joe Lauzon vs. Jason Reinhardt

Tickets are on sale here