This past Friday, Fedor Emelianenko made his debut on UFC Fight Pass. He won, but the victory in his home country was mired in controversy.

Fabio Maldonado let loose on “The Last Emperor” in the first round at EFN 50 from Sibur Arena in St. Petersburg, Russia. Somehow, Emelianenko (36-4) managed to make it to the second round – despite claims from some observors that had the fight been anywhere but Russia, it would have been stopped for a Maldonado (22-10) TKO win.

But Emelianenko turned the tide in the second and third, and he eventually took a majority decision with scores of 28-28, 29-28 and 29-28.

Suffice it to say, Maldonado disagreed with the decision.

UFC President Dana White, who has long been in failed talks to get Emelianenko into the UFC, at the very least got to have the legendary heavyweight on the promotion’s Fight Pass platform.

Today, on the debut podcast episode of “UFC Unfiltered with Jim Norton and Matt Serra,” White lauded Emelianenko’s toughness – while saying there was no way the referee was going to stop an Emelianenko fight in Russia.

“They were going to let him die before they stopped that fight, you know that?” White said. “But a testament to how tough and durable and mentally strong Fedor is, man. He was out. He was out. Literally, when he got back up … when a guy is on crazy legs the way that he was on crazy legs, and it’s not like he was on crazy legs and able to avoid punches after that. He continued to get hit with bombs by Maldonado and he made it through it.

“But I’ll tell you this: Those refs were willing to let him die before they stopped that fight, No. 1. And No. 2, Fedor’s got a chin and he’s a tough guy.”

White said the possibility of Emelianenko eventually getting a fight in the UFC still remains. At the very least, he knows there’s still an audience for the 37-year-old heavyweight.

“We’ve been negotiating for many, many, many years,” White said. “I’ll tell you this: Fight Pass did very well with that fight, so people do still want to watch Fedor.”