UFC ready for Fedor

The August 1 Affliction card was to have featured Emelianenko fighting Josh Barnett, until the American tested positive for a banned steroid last week.

Several fighters were in talks to replace Barnett but Affliction revealed they were unable to find anyone suitable - with the company subsequently announcing it was ceasing business as a fight promoter.

M-1 Global, the company who manage Emelianenko, have revealed that the time could now finally be right to kick-start negotiations to bring the heavyweight to the UFC.

The news brings fans a small step closer to seeing a dream fight between the Russian and UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar - although negotiations are not expected to be smooth.

"This is the moment of truth that the UFC has talked about," M-1 Global president Vadim Finkelchtein said.

"Fedor and I are here in the States. If they (the UFC) want to come out and fly here, we are ready to conduct negotiations. Of course it still doesn't imply we are ready to accept any conditions they'll throw at us.

"We want to talk to the UFC about having Fedor compete against some of their fighters, but only within the framework of co-promotional efforts with M-1 Global."

The fact that the UFC would insist that Emelianenko sign an exclusive deal would prove a stumbling block to any negotiations, but UFC president Dana White is a known fan and has previously stated that he would love to get the Russian on board.

Emelianenko has never fought inside the Octagon, although he holds victories over former UFC heavyweight champions Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia in the last 18 months, while he has also twice beaten Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who recently captured and lost the UFC crown.

White may shed more light on Emelianenko later this week when he holds a planned news conference.