For those who are eagerly anticipating the comeback of Fedor Emelianenko (34-4, 1 NC) to MMA, it looks like he has his opponent for his December 31st date in Japan. According to MMA Fighting, the 39-year-old consensus greatest HW of all-time will face the unheralded Jaideep Singh in Nobuyuki Sakakibara's new, unnamed Japanese promotion.
Singh is 28 years old and has lived in Japan since his early childhood after being born in India. His only MMA fight was a TKO win against Alireza Tavak in Super Fight League back in 2013. He has over 50 kickboxing matches, compiling a record of 40-10, 1 NC, fighting notables such as Gokhan Saki, Ewerton Teixeira, and Sergei Kharitonov (he won this one). Granted, he hasn't won a match since 2011 and has lost his last 3.
An official announcement will be made on Fedor's next fight (as well as other promotional details) on Thursday. The report also notes that Sakakibara is holding three events consecutively from December 29th-31st, and the show on the 29th will air on Fuji TV in Japan, with a catchweight main event between Shinya Aoki and Kazushi Sakuraba.
The 12/31 show will air on tape delay on Spike TV, so for the time being it looks like we won't see Aoki vs. Sakuraba in North America.