Islam Makhachev and Fedor Emelianenko are now official sambo ambassadors. The two Russian MMA greats were recognized during a ceremony in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, where each was handed formal letters of credence, Sherdog reported. The timing is deliberate. The Sambo World Championships run in Tashkent from November 6 to 8, and both men will be there as guests of honor.
It’s a fitting gig for both of them. Makhachev and Emelianenko each started their martial arts lives in sambo before turning into two of the most recognizable fighters Russia has ever produced. Sherdog summed it up on X as two MMA greats with shared sambo roots, and that’s the whole pitch. If you’re a sambo federation trying to get eyeballs on a world championship, you call the last emperor and the guy currently holding a UFC belt. That’s an easy call.
Meanwhile, back in the UFC
The ceremony photos look peaceful. Makhachev’s mentions are not. The ambassador news landed in the same week Carlos Prates spent dragging him for not taking a fight in January.
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In comments shared by Championship Rounds via Laerte Viana, Prates didn’t hold back. “He chickened out,” he said, before promising to come back and beat Makhachev “twice as badly as I was going to before.” He also claimed the UFC was unhappy about the situation, and laid out his preferred options for the champ in blunt terms: “If you don’t want to fight, vacate your belt and that’s it.” Prates went further, saying it would honestly be less bad if Makhachev had faked an injury than kept talking publicly while staying unsure about January.
Then Dana White added fuel. Speaking in comments shared via The Mac Life, White said the Prates fight had been verbally agreed before Makhachev withdrew. “I like when guys fight a lot,” White said, adding that he doesn’t expect a champion to fight three times a year, “but twice would be nice.” He also pointed out that a champion sitting out starts to back up the division, with plenty of guys who’d like a title shot.
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Prates wasn’t done. On Thursday he reposted a Makhachev quote from the UFC PI with nothing but three lying-face emojis, which is about as clear as a caption gets.
What’s next
The immediate answer is Tashkent. Makhachev and Emelianenko will be honored guests at the Sambo World Championships starting Friday. The bigger answer is the one nobody has yet. The sources don’t say whether Makhachev has a new date, a new opponent, or a timeline, and White himself said, “Who knows what he’s thinking or what he wants to do next.”
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My take: I love that Makhachev is getting his flowers in sambo, and nobody on Earth deserves the ambassador sash more than Fedor. But when the promoter is publicly saying you verbally agreed to a fight, and the challenger is reposting your quotes with lying emojis, the ceremony photos become a side story. Prates is doing exactly what I want from a contender: calling his shot loudly and daring the champ to answer. Makhachev’s best response is a signed bout agreement, and the clock started the second White said “verbally agreed” into a microphone.
