WSOF President Ray Sefo passed on Rizin bout with Fedor Emelianenko

Ray Sefo and WSOF ring girls

Many fans weren’t thrilled with the choice of opponent for Fedor Emelianenko’s return to MMA action at Rizin Fighting Federation’s inaugural show. It turns out Jaideep Singh, who lost by TKO in just over three minutes, wasn’t the primary choice for Emelianenko’s opponent.

WSOF President Ray Sefo (2-2) said that he was offered the chance to serve as Emelianenko’s (35-4) opponent at the event, which took place New Year’s Eve at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

“The opportunity to fight him was actually offered to me, I think five weeks out from the actual New Year’s Eve fight,” Sefo wrote in a column on the WSOF website. “I was honored, but I told the guys, ‘Listen, that fight, I would love to have. He’s a legend in this sport. Win or lose for me, it would be amazing to get in there.’

“But at the same time, I said, ‘Five weeks is not enough for me to prepare for someone like Fedor. He’s a guy that I don’t want to just jump in there. That’s disrespectful to him and disrespectful to myself.'”

Sefo is far more experienced in kickboxing, where he compiled a record of 56-22-1 and was runner-up in the K-1 World Grand Prix in 2000. He has dropped his two most recent MMA bouts, a submission loss to Valentijn Overeem in a 2011 Strikeforce bout and a TKO loss to Dave Huckaba at WSOF 4 in 2013.

Despite his limited experience and success in MMA, Sefo would have been a more recognizable name than Singh (2-1).

For complete coverage of Rizin Fighting Federation 1, check out the MMA Events section of the site.