On December 18, a press conference was held in Okinawa to announce the opponent for Fedor Emelianenko who will be making his highly anticipated come back in RIZIN FIGHTING WORLD GRAND-PRIX 2015.

The press conference took place on the beautiful beach of Itoman city, Okinawa. Where RIZIN Chairman Nobuyuki Sakakibara appeared in ring which was specifically installed for the conference.
“We have been asked from so many fans with one question: who is Fedor going to fight? And we are happy to finally present everyone with an answer to that. We are proud to be making this announcement.”（Sakakibara）

The opponent was announced through VTR clip. The video started with some flashbacks of Fedor’s previous fights. Then moved on to Jaideep Heart Singh defeating very tough opponents and him training under Peter Aerts and Rudimar Fedrigo. “Singh was thrilled to get an offer from RIZIN, he would do everything to be a winner. He is like a son to me”, commented Rudimar in the video.

After the video ended, Singh appeared in front of the ring and declared a war. “I got a great chance and I am not going to blow it. I want to put on a stunning fight. I hope that is going to be the last fight for Fedor”.

Then Rudimar Fedrigo joined them with a statement, “I think Singh is going to “kill” Fedor. I doubt Singh will be defeated. Fedor is an amazing fighter, but I put all my faith in Singh’s KO. This is going to be a must see fight!”

Then Singh’s trainer Peter Aerts appeared. “I am sure fans would be thrilled to see this fight. Singh is really doing his best while training here in Okinawa. He will put on a great show.”

“We put great thought in choosing a Fedor’s opponent as a reference to the future of MMA world. We had a big list of fighters to choose from, but we decided to give that chance to Singh hoping that Fedor’s legacy could be passed over to the young generation through the exchanges of fists. I am sure this is going to be a very exciting fight on New Year’s Eve”, added Sakakibara.

In addition, one more card was announced, Soo Chul Kim vs Maike Linhares. “ROAD FC’s top Bantamweight and Jungle Fight Champion are facing each other! This is what RIZIN is about. We make fights between champions from different promotions, and this is very exciting.” (Sakakibara)

Sakakibara added that the promoter’s position for Fedor and Singh’s faceoff after the weigh in on December 30th will be auctioned off on Yahoo! Auction. The auction is going to start on December 18th at 1 pm. Part of the bid will be donated to Disability Sport Charity.

After the press-conference Singh had an open training session in the ring, demonstrating his striking skills. He showed sharp, crisp punches with Aerts holding the mitts, followed by showing some of Rudimar’s special moves specifically for the new RIZIN rules.