Prince Albert II of Monaco has asked Fyodor Emelianenko to go hunting with him this summer because his wife admires the Russian cage fighter, Emelianenko's promoter Vadim Finkelshtein said Wednesday.
Emelianenko is one of mixed martial arts' biggest stars, going on a ten-year unbeaten run until tasting defeat in 2010, and has held several top titles.
“We’re in currently in talks to hold a fight in Monaco,” Finkelshtein said.
“We’ve met the organizers, and even the Prince of Monaco has invited Fyodor to go hunting because the prince’s wife is a big fan of Fyodor.”
In July, Prince Albert married Charlene Wittstock, a South African former Olympic swimmer. The prince is known as a hunting enthusiast, and traveled to Russia in 2007 to hunt Siberian stags.
Emelianenko’s fight is likely to take place on a square in Monaco in front of a crowd of 2,000, Finkelshtein said.
“So far, the date is June 7, but it’s not exact. We also haven’t selected an opponent,” he said.
Emelianenko will fight Lithuania’s Tadas Rimkevicius in St. Petersburg on Friday. His last fight was a first-round knockout of Olympic judo champion Satoshi Ishii in Tokyo in December.
