White: Lesnar vs. Fedor Superfight Nearly Happened At Cowboys Stadium

Brock Lesnar (James Law/HeavyMMA)

Lesnar vs. Fedor superfight almost came to fruition

Last summer, UFC president Dana White and former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar met to discuss the superstar's potential return to the promotion. That meeting, according to the former, went about as poorly as any meeting he had ever had.

Seven months later, that story has changed in a big way.

Taking an opposite stance following UFC on FOX 6 this past weekend, White revealed that the meeting -- one he described as "the worst meeting we've ever had with Brock Lesnar" -- nearly yielded the biggest superfight in the promotion's history.

And it would've happened in one of the most notable venues in the United States.

The venue would have been Cowboys Stadium, and the headlining fight? Brock Lesnar vs. Fedor Emelianenko.

"We were in deep talks with (Fedor)," White stated following the UFC on FOX 6 post-fight press conference at the United Center in Chicago. "We were that close to signing him recently. Right before his dad died. We were right there."

But White did not only address the Emelianenko talks.

"Remember when I met with (Lesnar) and said it didn't go well," White asked. "It actually went well. It went well, and Brock wanted to fight Fedor. Then (Fedor's) dad died, and he was done."

Emelianenko retired from MMA competition following a June win over Pedro Rizzo last year. Negotiations with the UFC likely occurred very shortly after. Talks broke down completely after the passing of Fedor's father last August.

Though the UFC came closer than ever to putting two of the sport's biggest draws into the cage against one another, White holds little hope for that match up ever coming to fruition, believing Emelianenko will stay in retirement.

"From what I understand, he is absolutely, positive made the decision not to fight ever again," White said. "Anything's possible. I don't know. When a guy says he wants to retire, you're never going to see me chasing a guy who said he wants to retire."

With Fedor likely done for good (at least from White's perspective), that leaves Lesnar, the former heavyweight champion who made the move from professional wrestling to mixed martial arts in 2007, debuting with the UFC one year later.

Unfortunately, it appears that he, too, is done fighting.

"Brock came down, we met, he came to that event, we went to dinner that night, and he went back home. We were negotiating the Fedor thing. And I think when he heard Fedor was done, he said, 'I'm done, too.'"

According to a report from PWInsider.com, Lesnar has reach an agreement with the WWE on a two-year extension. He is 35 years of age and finished his MMA career with two brutal technical knockout losses, making his return seem far more doubtful than likely.

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