Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko is widely considered by mixed martial arts buffs to be the best heavyweight fighter in the world. And with good reason—he’s at 29 wins and one loss, that sole defeat coming more than eight years ago. Currently, he’s the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight champ and fighting for Affliction, an MMA group owned by the “t-shirts for d-bags” company of the same name. Yet he still has his skeptics (including UFC president Dana White), who say that he hasn’t fought the toughest competition out there, especially since various issues have kept him from fighting in UFC. So what’s there to do other than beat up on former UFC champs? At the inaugural Affliction event this past July (also held in Anaheim), he submitted former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia in 36 seconds; this time around he’s facing Andrei Arlovski, another former UFC heavyweight champion.
Sat., Jan. 24, 4:30 p.m., 2009
