Sources close to M-1 Global have confirmed that they received an offer from Art Of War to set up a fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Pedro Rizzo. M-1 was uninterested in the offer however and it was promptly rejected. No further details were given as to the reason.

Rizzo (16-7) is the current Art Of War heavyweight champion besting Jeff Monson via TKO this past September to win the title. He also holds notable wins over Mark Coleman, Dan Severn and Andrei Arlovski.

Fedor Emelianenko is considered by most MMA pundits to be the greatest heavyweight fighter on the planet. He has defeated a who's who of fighters while remaining virtually unbeaten. His list of notable victories runs deep and includes; Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (twice), Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Ricardo Arona, Matt Lindland and Mark Hunt.