Fedor Emelianenko (33-4) has his next opponent.

The longtime PRIDE champion will meet former UFC heavyweight-title challenger Pedro Rizzo (19-9) on June 21, M-1 official Evgeni Kogan today announced via Twitter.

Fighters such as Bobby Lashley and Rolles Gracie previously were rumored for the slot, but it'll instead go to 37-year-old Rizzo.

The June 21 event, which is expected to be an M-1 show, takes place at the Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia. It'll likely air on pay-per-view.

Emelianenko recently left Strikeforce following consecutive losses to Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Silva and Dan Henderson. The Russian, who once won 27 consecutive fights (with one no-contest), has competed overseas, where he picked up victories over Jeff Monson and Satoshi Ishii in late 2011. The 35-year-old now fights for the first time in 2012.

Rizzo, a Brazilian who made his MMA debut nearly 16 years ago, fought for the UFC heavyweight title three times but came up short in each effort. A fan favorite, Rizzo now returns to the cage after a two-year layoff. Most recently, he picked up a pair of TKO victories over Gary Goodridge and Ken Shamrock in 2010.

No other event details have been announced for the show.


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pretty sad how they're destroying fedor's legacy bit by bit....for so many people who don't really know pride he'll just be the guy failing at fighting at top level (in strikeforce), but owning enough tomato cans before and after to feed a whole village spaghetti.... Tbh I though Pedro retired years ago, iirc his chin is GONE....(which yet again feeds the "only successfull against cherry picked opponents" crowd)

I suspect that the plan is to have him fight (and defeat) enough hasbeens to be able to get a "super fight" again...