The past year has been extremely difficult for Alexander Emelianenko.
In February, according to the rules of fisticuffs, he defeated veteran Jeff Monson, in September he was knocked out by Vyacheslav Datsik, and in December he sensationally lost to blogger Vyacheslav Kovalenko.
However, even the latest failures, paradoxically, did not affect its relevance.
We are discussing who the 41-year-old athlete may meet with in the near future.
Alexander Shlemenko
The fight with the ex-Bellator champion can be called the most interesting and profitable for Emelianenko.
He is guaranteed to generate huge interest in the country, although both athletes are on the decline.
Shlemenko was defeated consecutively by Alexander Ilich and Magomed Ismailov and ended in a controversial draw with Kléber Souza.
The long-standing conflict of opponents, which began back in 2020, will add additional intrigue to the confrontation.
Then Emelianenko invited his colleague to fight according to the rules of boxing.
He in response wished to converge in mixed martial arts.
It seemed that the duel is quite real.
But in the end, Phoenix accused the counterpart of cowardice and greed, noting that he demanded too much fee.
After that, a tough fight broke out between them, for example, Shlemenko offered to come and sort it out in Omsk.
Emelianenko called Storm arrogant.
Subsequently, the degree only increased, and the veterans switched to outright insults.
The likelihood that the fight will still take place is quite high.
In any case, Phoenix manager Nikita Burchak promised to do everything for this in 2023.
Sergei Kharitonov
A duel against a 42-year-old heavyweight could have come out no less expected, because the fighters have an even more protracted history of the conflict.
Such mutual hatred in the worst days did not happen even between Emelianenko and Vyacheslav Datsik.
Her story began back in 2006.
Then two promising young heavyweights from Russia met at the Pride Final Conflict Absolute tournament in Japan.
Phoenix scored a landslide victory via TKO in the first round.
After that, rumors about a possible revenge repeatedly arose, but it has not yet been possible to organize it.
So, in 2022, information appeared about a possible revenge.
But Burchak then said that the opponent asked for too much money for entering the “cage”, and in addition demanded that the fight be held according to special rules: 20 minutes without a break until a knockout or surrender.
Alexander himself also emphasized that his counterpart avoids him in every possible way and is afraid.
The unwillingness to agree did not prevent the men from exchanging tough phrases.
Kharitonov did not hide his joy after the defeat of his colleague from Kovalenko and put money on Datsik.
Emelianenko did not remain in debt and accused him of "agreement" with Malik Scott.
It is likely that Anatoly Sulyanov, the head of the Hardcore FC league, will be able to translate the dispute into a practical plane.
In the fall, he announced the proposal made to both.
Perhaps the revenge will take place, and both veterans will finally earn good money and please the public.
Svyatoslav Kovalenko
Much more real revenge with a popular blogger.
The defeat from a guy unknown to anyone in the MMA world, who, in addition, weighed much less, shocked all Phoenix fans.
It seemed that he was obliged to defeat an amateur with his eyes closed, but instead, Alexander was knocked down twice and barely survived until the end of the battle.
In addition, after the failure, Emelianenko also blamed the referee for everything, comparing himself with Magomed Ankalaev and Petr Yan, who suffered from controversial refereeing decisions in the UFC last year.
Moreover, the athlete's team filed an appeal against the outcome.
In the actions of the opponent, Phoenix did not see anything special and complained that he was constantly running away from him.
After this, the athletes are simply obliged to have another fight, and if the veteran loses again, he can end his career.
In addition, the blogger is ready for the second series, but on one condition: the fight must take place according to full-fledged MMA rules.
However, it looks like it won't be seen any time soon.
Burchak said in early January that his client would have a rematch in late February or early March, but not with Svyatoslav.
A new meeting with Datsik is also unlikely to take place.
Emelianenko suffered a too painful defeat, being knocked out already at the 13th second.
From the last fights of Alexander, one gets the impression that he is simply no longer able to withstand blows of such power.
Yes, and Red Tarzan, right in the “cage”, emphasized that for him this page was turned over.
Antonio Silva
It is possible that Burchak, talking about the closest opponent, had in mind the legendary Brazilian, since the parties agreed to meet last summer.
It was assumed that Emelianenko would meet with him immediately after the fight with Datsik.
Athletes even held a sterdown at the Hardcore tournament.
Alexander went into the octagon and challenged Bigfoot right there, promising to avenge his older brother Fedor, who lost to him in 2011.
The Russian noted that he would hurt the opponent.
In September, Sulyanov admitted that he still wants to organize this fight, but he still has nothing to please his fans.
That being said, Silva could be the perfect opponent for Phoenix.
Both, to put it mildly, are far from the peak and are on the decline.
Nevertheless, interest in them in the country remains high.
For example, António has suffered seven consecutive losses in MMA, six of which were knockouts.
True, at the end of the year, information appeared in the Brazilian media about the completion of a 43-year-old veteran of his career, but it was only about mixed martial arts.
Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the athletes will meet according to the rules of boxing.
This format is just the most convenient for Emelianenko, who has always relied on percussion technique.
Silva, for sure, will not miss the opportunity to receive the last big fee.
Nikita Dzhigurda
Five years ago, such a sign would have caused only laughter and surprise.
But at the moment, Emelianenko, who was defeated by a blogger, may well converge with a famous actor.
This option is unlikely to surprise anyone, since Alexander has long been moving in the direction of pop-MMA.
And in this case, we are not talking about simple fantasies.
Back in February, Phoenix expressed a desire to fight with Dzhigurda "one left".
And in December, they staged a battle of views at the birthday party of the head of Our Business, Artur Arutyunyan.
This promotion is just famous for holding fights between media personalities.
For example, within its framework, actors Alexander Golovin and Kirill Emelyanov met in the fall.
Burchak reassured the fans a little, calling the men's act a joke.
However, he did not rule out an exhibition fight between them.
At the same time, the actor is able to create great difficulties for the athlete, because, despite his advanced age, he showed himself excellently in martial arts.
In particular, he has victories over MP Vitaly Milonov and showman Otar Kushanashvili.
But Nikita lost to the freak blogger Alexander Shpak.