Fedor Emelianenko is a Russian politician and retired Heavyweight mixed martial artist (MMA), sambist, and judoka. But what sets him apart from the rest of MMA fighters is he remained relatively quiet as a fighter, working away from the limelight and all glitter.

The 37 year old MMA Superstar rose to stardom in mid 2000 but even so, he remains a mystery not only to fans during his hay days up to now with the new MMA enthusiasts.

Michael Schiavello was preparing for an interview with Emelianenko when he realized that he did not have much information on his hands.

He said "The fact that so many people consider Fedor the greatest mixed martial arts fighter ever, or at least one of the top five, and he's such a major figure in this sport and in its history and yet he's still shrouded in such mystery and intrigue was compelling to me. The longest interview with him I could find was only about 10 or 12 minutes."

He added "Sometimes during my preparations, I began to think, 'Maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew here.' The longest thing he did was 10 minutes on Russian TV, where they're talking Russian, he knows the hosts and he was at his most comfortable. And I'm trying to get him to sit down for an hour to do an interview on American TV."

During the interview, Schiavello asked Emelianenko about his problem with UFC President Dana White.

He answered "Well, the UFC didn't want me to fight there, so what could I do? We were unable to make a deal. They offered unacceptable conditions. Actually, when I fought in Pride, we had the best fighters in the world. Back then, the UFC had a very big and serious crisis. They were going through some hard times being able to get some top fighters. All the best fighters were in Pride."

He added "Later on, when Pride ceased to exist, the UFC didn't immediately pick up speed. Currently, the UFC is a super organization in the world, probably the best. There are several top fighters in every weight category."