Fedor Emelianenko's opponent for New Year's Eve? Rizin promoter tells restless fans to keep waiting

Every year I find myself running around on Christmas eve trying to find a last-minute gift, despite the fact that local retailers have been pushing the holidays down my throat since the day after Halloween.

Sounds a lot like the Rizin strategy for matchmaking.

After announcing the highly-anticipated return of Fedor Emelianenko all the way back in September, former PRIDE boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara has yet to find a suitable opponent for one of the biggest stars in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA).

"So far, we have not decided on the final decision," Sakakibara told Tass.ru (via Bloody Elbow). "There are a number of candidates before us, but we want to choose the most worthy. Now the whole world is watching the news hoping to learn at last the name of Fedor's opponent. Please wait a little more."

K.

The upstart fight promotion, which recently inked a catchweight bout pitting Shinya Aoki vs. Kazushi Sakuraba, will stage a series of events over the course of three days (Dec. 29-31) in Saitama, Japan, with the Emelianenko fight airing live on Spike TV.

Against who, remains to be seen.