Fedor Emelianenko is set to make his Strikeforce debut against the undefeated Brett Rogers in Strikeforce's CBS debut this Saturday. The legendary heavyweight will be fighting in Chicago for the first time in his career, and told Ray Flores of FightLine.com that despite Chi-Town being a new city for him, he was happy to be there.
"I really like it in Chicago," Fedor stated. "I like new cities and to me, it's relatively new. So, I am very happy to be here."
Some have criticized the bout, stating that Fedor's camp chose to fight Rogers, who is coming off of a 22 second first-round knockout victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski in June, to give him an easy win. Fedor, however, noted that he didn't choose his opponent, and that he felt Rogers was a worthy adversary.
"I was not given the choice," he explained. "I was offered Brett Rogers as an opponent, and I thought this was due to Brett Rogers being such a great fighter."
When asked to give a message to his critics, including UFC President Dana White, Fedor had nothing but kind words.
"All the best wishes," he offered. "Health, happiness, and great, beautiful, positive notions."
You can watch our entire interview with the Russian heavyweight phenom below:
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