SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Legendary mixed martial artist Fedor Emelianenko will return to the ring Dec. 31 in Tokyo.
Emelianenko (34-4) will compete against an opponent yet to be named at a venue to be determined. The bout will air on Spike TV. The Russian heavyweight, who retired in 2012, had teased a pending comeback for weeks.
"I'm glad to be here at this monumental Bellator event, and I'm also very happy it was at this event my return to MMA was announced," Emelianenko said through a translator. "I'm excited to be working with my old partners and hoping the new reboot will be just as successful."
The fight was announced during Bellator: Dynamite on Saturday, but Emelianenko, 38, has not signed a deal with Bellator MMA. Instead, the deal is with former PRIDE president Nobuyuki Sakakibara, who is spearheading an effort to rebuild a once-prominent Japanese MMA scene. Zuffa, parent company of the UFC, purchased PRIDE in 2007 and eventually ceased its operations.
Sakakibara said he would not disclose the name of his new company or the name of the Dec. 31 event at this time. It will be announced during a news conference in Japan next month.
Terms of Emelianenko's deal were not disclosed.
"We are thrilled to join forces with Nobuyuki Sakakibara and our partner, Bellator president Scott Coker, to give MMA fans a big reason to celebrate this New Year's Eve," Kevin Kay, president of Spike TV, said.
Bellator will have some involved in the New Year's event. The promotion has agreed to partner with Sakakibara, lending some of its roster to fill out the card. Further details are expected to be announced at a later date.
Emelianenko was long considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He won the PRIDE heavyweight championship in March 2003 and defeated iconic opponents in Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mark Coleman and Mirko Filipovic. He signed with Coker under the Strikeforce banner in 2009 but suffered three consecutive losses to Fabricio Werdum, Antonio Silva and Dan Henderson.