Fedor Emelianenko is planning a three-part comeback programme. It includes a sambo exhibition bout with an MMA star, with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev the names in play, plus a real boxing match against a well-known foreign opponent, ideally Francis Ngannou or a boxing star from the past. Emelianenko also intends to compete at the Russian combat sambo championship in March 2027. If he wins it, he would likely go on to the 2027 world championship at age 51. Emelianenko has staged similar demonstration bouts before, including with Vladimir Voronov, Gegard Mousasi and Shinya Aoki.
Fedor Emelianenko is reportedly planning a three-part comeback programme that would take him from a sambo exhibition to a boxing match and, finally, a return to competitive combat sambo in 2027. The plans are not officially confirmed.
According to the report, the first element is a sambo exhibition bout against an MMA star, with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev the names in play. The second is a genuine boxing match against a well-known foreign opponent, ideally Francis Ngannou or a boxing star from the past. The third is a run at the Russian combat sambo championship in March 2027. A win there would likely send Emelianenko to the 2027 world championship, where he would be 51. He has staged similar demonstration bouts before, including with Vladimir Voronov, Gegard Mousasi and Shinya Aoki.
Nurmagomedov retired unbeaten at 29-0 and is 38. His most recent recorded fight was a second-round submission of Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 on October 24, 2020. He averaged 5.32 takedowns per 15 minutes, a rate that would make a sambo setting a natural fit.
Makhachev, 35, is the reigning welterweight champion at 29-1. He won a unanimous decision over Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 on August 15, 2026, his most recent recorded fight, and has won each of his last three recorded bouts. He lands 2.27 significant strikes per minute at 58 percent accuracy and averages 3.22 takedowns per 15 minutes.
Ngannou, 40, is 17-3 and fights out of Xtreme Couture. His most recent recorded fight was a unanimous decision over Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 on January 22, 2022. At six-foot-four with an 83-inch reach, he is the size outlier of the group, standing six inches taller than either Nurmagomedov or Makhachev, who are both listed at 70 inches of reach.
Why it matters
- Both Nurmagomedov and Makhachev are listed at five-foot-ten, so either would be a like-for-like grappling test of sambo credentials rather than a size mismatch.
- A Ngannou boxing match would pair a heavyweight power striker with a fighter who is now closer to 50 than 40 in the sambo plans.
- The March 2027 championship is the only competitive element. If Emelianenko wins it, the world championship would follow.
