Fedor Emelianko at Affliction 3 in January or February

Amidst rumors that “The Last Emperor” might meet Randy Couture in a New Years Eve “Battle for the Ages” at UFC 92 in December, there has been a solid development involving the world’s undisputed heavyweight king.

According to Fightline.com, Fedor Emelianenko has extended his deal with up-and-coming promotion Affliction that will allow the Russian heavyweight to battle the winner of Andrei Arlovski vs Josh Barnett at Affliction’s third event in January or February.

Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio confirmed that they would like to put the aforementioned bout on their third card following “Day of Reckoning” in October.

“We’ve just extended our deal with Fedor and we are very happy about that. We absolutely want to put that fight on our third show.” Atencio stated “We are looking at the Arlovski vs. Barnett elimination fight right now with the winner fighting Fedor for sure in January or February.”

This pretty much shuts the door on any speculation that Fedor will fight “The Natural” in December or participate in the traditional New Years Eve show in Japan.

Emelianenko is coming off of a rock solid performance at Affliction “Banned” in which he opened a lot of American eyes, defeating #4 ranked Tim Sylvia in a mere 36 seconds. With the victory, Emelianenko was crowned the very first WAMMA undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.