Aleksander Emelianenko, the younger brother of Fedor, is back on the market for a new fight after announcing on his website Thursday his withdrawal from a Sept. 29 fight in South Korea.
Citing the lack of dialogue from the promoter regarding an opponent, Emelianenko has pulled out of the Fighting Mixed Combative 2 card and is accepting proposals right away so that he can return to action "as soon as possible."
Emelianenko had initially agreed to fight Blagoi Ivanov, who made his name in the MMA world last November by defeating Fedor in a Sambo match. The win over Fedor gained Ivanov a contract with World Victory Road and last month Ivanov won his Sengoku debut by split decision over PRIDE veteran Kazuyuki Fujita. However, Ivanov broke both hands in the process, leaving himself medically unfit for the Sept. 29 fight.
The loss of Emelianenko is the latest blow to the Korean promotion. Its inaugural event on Aug. 16 was a complete disaster after seven of 10 fights were scrapped the day of the event due to a fighter walkout.
Emelianenko (15-3) has won six consecutive fights but has encountered difficulty signing big fights in the US due to licensing issues. Emelianenko went 6-2 in PRIDE and all three of his career losses have come against top tier competition in Mirko "Cro Cop," Josh Barnett and Fabricio Werdum.
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