MMA fans love to play matchmaker and speculate how fantasy matchups between fighters who have never fought would go. Khabib Nurmagomedov is no different.
The (seemingly) former UFC lightweight champion was recently asked which fantasy matchup he would have made if he got to play matchmaker.
His pick? A heavyweight collision between Brock Lesnar and Fedor Emelianenko.
“If just a fantasy, then I would take Brock Lesnar — a heavyweight. And it would be possible to make him a fight with Fedor Emelianenko in Russia,” Nurmagomedov said in a recent interview (via BJ Penn).
“It would be interesting to organize a fight between the stars of Russian and American MMA. By the way, anything can happen.”
Lesnar vs. Emelianenko Was Close To Happening
Lesnar, of course, was a former UFC heavyweight champion in addition to being a genetic freak and one of the biggest draws in the sport’s history.
Emelianenko, meanwhile, is a GOAT contender owing to his incredible heavyweight run from 2001 to 2009 that saw him win 27 times and beat some of the biggest names and former champions.
A matchup between the pair would have certainly been intriguing and was one UFC president Dana White was even trying to make. However, it didn’t to fruition and is one of White’s big regrets as he mentioned last year.
“The only fight that I wanted to make that was never made was Brock Lesnar vs Fedor Emelianenko,” White said. “We were going to do it at Texas Stadium. But I couldn’t get a deal done with Fedor, so it never happened.”
For now, all we and Nurmagomedov can do is speculate how the fight would have played out.