By Mike Chiappetta
- Senior Writer
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Strikeforce heavyweight and international MMA star
Fedor Emelianenko is scheduled to fight Brett Rogers on Nov. 7, but during the midst of training, Emelianenko found the time to marry his longtime girlfriend Marina.
The traditional Russian Orthodox wedding took place this weekend in his hometown of Stary Oskol, according to
Emelianenko's official Web site.
It is Emelianenko's second marriage. His marriage to his first wife Oksana ended in 2006.
Emelianenko (30-1-1 with one no contest) was the subject of one of the most intense MMA free-agency chases in the sport's history earlier this year, and turned down an overture from the UFC to sign with Strikeforce.
The Russian, who turned 33 years old on Sept. 28, eventually signed with Strikeforce and will head the organization's debut event on CBS next month against the unbeaten Rogers (10-0).
The development is interesting specifically because in the aftermath of Emelianenko's last win over
Andrei Arlovski, his camp -- specifically his longtime trainer Vladimir Voronov --
voiced a belief that Emelianenko had been distracted in training, and warned that his preparation would have to improve to continue winning future fights.
Emelianenko has about five weeks until the Rogers fight. Keep in mind, however, that Emelianenko had been scheduled to fight
Josh Barnett in July, but that fight fell apart when Barnett failed a pre-fight drug test. Emelianenko had reportedly gone through a full eight-week camp for that fight, but because his camps are relatively isolated in his hometown, little information about them is known until after his fights.
In September 2007,
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua was married just three weeks before his UFC debut against
Forrest Griffin, and was upset, suffering a third-round submission loss.
Read More: mauricio shogun rua, Andrei Arlovski (MMA), Brett Rogers (MMA), Fedor Emelianenko (MMA), Forrest Griffin (MMA), Josh Barnett (MMA)
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