Fedor Emelianenko walks to the cage for his fight with Antonio Silva in Strikeforce, inset Dana White on stage at the UFC 167 press conference, throwback banner. Credit: Esther Lin/Forza LLC/Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Dana White shockingly changed his mind on Fedor Emelianenko after he dismantled a former UFC champion in just 36 seconds

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Kyle Dimond | Last updated Aug 2, 2025 4:48 PM ET

One of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time never got the chance to compete inside the Octagon.

There were seemingly several reasons why Fedor Emelianenko was never signed to the UFC.

Despite this, many still consider ‘The Last Emperor’ to be the best heavyweight of all time and one of the sport’s greatest regardless of weight class.

Emelianenko still shared the cage with several UFC stars during his remarkable career even if he never stepped foot inside the Octagon.

One of these matchups in particular led to a moment where Dana White surprisingly praised the Russian, having been critical of him in the past.

Photo by Esther Lin/Forza LLC via Getty Images

Fedor Emelianenko earned Dana White’s respect after he ran through Tim Sylvia in 2008

In 2008, Fedor Emelianenko became the top star for the newly emerged Affliction promotion that looked to rival the UFC by signing some top names.

The promotion’s very first event, ‘Affliction: Banned’, would see ‘The Last Emperor’ face a former UFC champion who had only departed the promotion earlier that year.

Tim Sylvia recorded three heavyweight title defenses across two separate reigns before competing inside the Octagon for the final time at UFC 81 where he was beaten by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Sylvia claims that Dana White himself blocked his UFC return after the promotion wasn’t happy with him signing to Affliction after he was released from his contract.

Unfortunately for the former champion, life outside of the Octagon didn’t get off to a great start after he was quickly dropped by Emelianenko and submitted in just 36 seconds.

White, who was running a UFC event on the same night, was asked about the Russian’s win, having been critical of his career and the opponents that he was facing in the past.

White told Kevin Iole that while this result didn’t change his stance on whether he wanted to bring Emelianenko into the UFC, he was impressed by this latest win.

“It does (change my opinion),” he conceded. “Tim Sylvia was a real opponent.”

Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Affliction’s MMA promotion didn’t last much longer after making Fedor Emelianenko their top star

After going head-to-head with the UFC in their first event, Affliction MMA ended up being a short-lived venture.

The clothing brand was only ever able to put on two events, one in July of 2008 and one the following January, both of which were headlined by Fedor Emelianenko.

A third event was scheduled to take place on August 1 of 2009 but this was cancelled when one half of the main event, Josh Barnett, tested positive for a banned substance.

On July 24, Affliction announced that the promotion was no more and that the clothing brand would go back to being a sponsor of the UFC.

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

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