Fedor, nearly 50, says he can still fight — and calls out Randy Couture

Fedor Emelianenko, the Russian MMA legend known as "The Last Emperor," has left the door open to a comeback as he approaches his 50th birthday.

In an interview with North American outlet MMA Junkie on Wednesday (local time), Fedor said he has never stopped training. "I keep training. Because I coach my team, I work out with the fighters," he said. "If a good offer comes along and it makes sense, why not? I can still fight."

Fedor turns 50 at the end of this month. He dominated the sport as the Pride FC heavyweight champion in the 2000s, widely regarded as the best fighter in the world. His record grew more mixed after 2010, and he has not competed officially since suffering a first-round TKO loss to Ryan Bader at Bellator 290 in February 2023.

If he does return, boxing appears the more likely avenue than MMA. "I have been training boxing and I am interested in boxing," Fedor said.

Veteran fighters such as Anderson Silva and Wanderlei Silva have typically chosen the boxing ring over MMA for late-career comebacks, largely because technical skill can offset some of the physical toll of age. Clinch work also makes a devastating knockout loss easier to avoid.

Fedor named a specific opponent: Randy Couture, the former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion. The two were linked as a potential dream matchup throughout their primes, but a fight never materialized.

"Randy would be a much more interesting opponent," Fedor said. "If he is ready, I am ready."

Whether a Fedor fight — especially a boxing match rather than an MMA bout — would draw the attention his name once commanded remains an open question. When he first rose to fame around 2000, the world's population stood at about 6 billion; today it is roughly 8.3 billion. A great deal of time has passed.