Fedor has no training issues, primed for 'Trilogy'

WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko said his trainer, Vladimir Voronov, spoke out of turn in a critique of his performance against Andrei Arlovski.

"We discussed what he had said, and my answer is that sometimes his emotions... he might say a few extra words, more than what needs to be said," Emelianenko told MMAWeekly.com at a Los Angeles press conference for Affliction: "Trilogy" on Aug. 1 in Anaheim. Emelianenko headlines the event against Josh Barnett in a long anticipated match between the top-ranked friends.

Not an hour after Emelianenko plucked the former UFC heavyweight champ out of the sky at January's "Day of Reckoning," Voronov was breathing a sigh of relief backstage.

"(Fedor) won with his old baggage, with his old tricks," he said. "We did everything we can to get him ready for this fight. But for these title fights, for these dangerous fights, we can't train the way we trained for this fight."

Emelianenko wrapped an action movie alongside Rutger Hauer and Michael Madsen last November and canceled an American press tour citing a need to prepare for the January fight. In November, he suffered his first loss in Sambo in eight years.

Next time, Voronov asserted, they wouldn't get off so easy.

"If he wants to keep winning, he can't be spending too much time on these commercials and these movies," he said. "Afterwards, after the win. For a fighter, the most important thing is work, work, work. Fedor wants to keep winning, and keep winning well. He needs to train professionally."

Emelianenko countered that his training was fine.

"I wasn't distracted by any movies or any other schedule conflicts," he stated. "I was in great shape, I was fully prepared for the last fight and I'll be prepared for this fight.

The virtually undefeated Russian says he'll depart to Russia after finishing his PR duties, where he will begin honing his game plan for Barnett. He and Voronov are taking the process seriously.

"For every fight, I try to prepare as much as I can to the maximum abilities that I can, to be in the best shape and best form that I can be," he said. "We've talked about what we need to do, and as soon as I'm done with (this), I'm in training camp."