The king of mixed martial arts has finally arrived in America … America just hasn’t noticed yet.

But as Fedor Emelianenko prepares for his third fight on U.S. soil this weekend against Andrei Arlovski at Affliction’s “Day of Reckoning” pay-per-view, there are some signs that the consensus No.1 heavyweight in the world is at long last starting to gain some notoriety in our country. Case in point: A lengthy feature in the New York Times this week, which amounted to the biggest and best – if not particularly illuminating – piece of mainstream American journalism on Emelianenko during his eight-year pro career.

The crux of the feature, the first of two unexpected MMA-related stories in two days for the Times, was to contrast the former PRIDE champ’s unparalleled success in the ring with his gentle personality and the relative anonymity he enjoys outside of it. In other words, the same story MMA fans have been hearing about Fedor all along.

Read the rest at CraveOnline .