Twenty years ago, Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic went to war in front of over 47,000 at Saitama Super Arena in one of the most important MMA bouts ever held. Emelianenko would end up winning via decision. Now they’re talking about a rematch in boxing.
Emelianenko, widely considered to be one of the greatest MMA heavyweights of all time, revealed the news in a recent hour-long chat with Russian outlet Ushatayka.
“Not long ago, one organization contacted me to hold a rematch in Japan,” Fedor said. “But unfortunately, for technical reasons, it didn’t work out. In Japan they wanted to hold our fight now, 20 years later, under boxing rules. We signed the agreements, I can’t say why it didn’t happen incorrectly because it hasn’t happened yet. But I’ve definitely started making preparations, and I’m sure Mirko has probably started too.”
That led Mirko to confirm the original plan, which would have seen the two fight earlier in 2025.
“To be honest, I was surprised by his announcement,” Filipovic told Dnevnik Nova TV. “There were talks about our rematch about a year ago … and they wanted a boxing exhibition match. Fedor said he couldn’t do MMA anymore for fear of injury, and talks started. So the talks started and we eventually agreed. It was supposed to be at the beginning of the year, I signed the agreement in February.”
“Cro Cop” was more willing to delve into reasons why the fight didn’t happen, and he claimed Emelianenko didn’t sign the contract until it was too late to book a venue. In previous interviews, Fedor said he’d been recovering from shoulder surgery earlier in 2025.
“At that moment they had seven arenas in Japan, from Saitama, Yokohama, Tokyo Dome and four other bigger halls. However, Fedor signed only in the sixth month, but by then we had lost all the arenas. The first arena in Japan is available in August next year. We haven’t discussed when or where, he only said he wants a boxing match.”
“If the opportunity arises, I see no reason not to.”
Age would be an obvious reason. Mirko Filipovic is 51 years old and retired from competition in 2019 after suffering a brain hemorrhage. He claims he’s got a perfect bill of health now and is capable of fighting Fedor the 49-year-old Emelianenko.
“After the brain hemorrhage, I only took a few months off from training,” he said. “Now I’m in the gym, the main sparring partner for the youngsters, I enjoy it and revel in it. I go for checkups twice a year and when the talks got heated, I went for a MRI in January and it showed that I was completely healthy.”
“No professional sport is healthy, especially martial arts, every blow is a trauma to the brain,” he added. “There is no 100 percent guarantee, but I can do one exhibition.”
But for now there’s a lot that needs to be sorted out for this fight to happen.
“We haven’t even talked about rounds, duration, glove size,” Filipovic said. “Nothing is known yet.”
