According to sources, Fedor Emelianenko will be taking on former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia on July 19 in Dallas Texas in Mark Cuban’s HDNetFight.

For those who have been following the recent events among MMA organizations globally, it might not be any surprise to you that Tim Sylvia will be the next man to take on Fedor Emilianenko. While Randy Couture is tied up in legal proceedings due to contractual difficulties with the puppet masters of the octagon (UFC), the name that should most stand out is that of manager/promoter Monty Cox.

What is most surprising is that it was not Big Ben Rothwell (formerly HW Champ of the IFL) who got the first shot at the Russian champion as both he and Tim Sylvia are under the wings of the man who became matchmaker for the already gone M-1 Global.

Monty Cox (matchmaker for Adrenaline) is perhaps the biggest shaker in MMA management in the United States and has managed many successful standouts such as Matt Hughes and other Miletich fighters. Most recently he acquired Eddie Alvarez who made an impressive debut by stopping Andre Dida in the Dream Lightweight Tournament.

While Fedor has been bouncing between Russia and Japan taking on both large and smaller scale adversaries defeating them at will, Sylvia has had a less consistent victory output. Tim could not finish of a much smaller Brandon Vera and his recent losses are against Randy Couture and most recently Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

If Minotauro were a measure of the American’s possibilities of winning, then he will have a hard time against the toughest man in the world. Sylvia seems to lack the mental strength that marks fighters such as Nogueira and Fedor.

This will indeed be a contest, in which Sylvia needs to implement his lengthy striking, but will most likely get nailed and submitted like most of Fedor’s opponents. For Sylvia this is a tremendous opportunity to make an impression on the MMA world, while for Fedor it is another symbolic victory by defeating an ex champion of the Octagon. It will also be interesting to see how Sylvia fares in a different fight environment.