Fedor Emelianenko promises his fight at Bellator 290 will be his last, but unlike ex-UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, he knows he could never completely walk away from the sport.
After retiring in 2020, Nurmagomedov stunned the entire world by effectively cutting ties to MMA and returning home to Dagestan. He plans to spend more time with his family while staying invested in businesses outside of combat sports.
Emelianenko at 46, knows it’s time to retire, but he can’t imagine a world without the team that he has built, including reigning Bellator lightweight king Vadim Nemkov and Anatoly Tokov, who is the top-ranked middleweight competitor.
“I’ll still be involved because I have my group,” Emelianenko stated at the Bellator 290 press conference. “These guys are like family to me. They are my family, no matter what happens. I will always be there for them.
” I will do my best to help these people in every way that I can. All my life I was in sport. The sport is part of my life.”
Nurmagomedov has spent most of his career as one of the best coaches in the sport. He worked with UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev and Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, among others.
Emelianenko does not judge Nurmagomedov’s decision. Throughout his entire career, Nurmagomedov spent many weeks, if not months, on the road training fighters in America and then traveling all over the world to face cards.
With a growing family at home, Nurmagomedov appears ready to focus on being a husband, father and businessman rather than a fixture at training camps and fight weeks.
“This is Khabib’s decision,” Emelianenko said. “That’s his choice. Because we spend so much time away from our families due to the sport at [training] camps sometimes it’s hard for us to say goodbye, particularly when we have small children .”
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Emelianenko has always called Russia Stary Oskol his home. He hasn’t been pulled away from his family while building a career that’s made him the greatest heavyweight in MMA history.
Emelianenko now wants to build his team, and pass on the knowledge that can help them succeed in their careers.
” “No matter what my interests are, I’m still going share all of my knowledge and experience.” he stated. “Regardless of what I do, I will have other hobbies and whatever happens, but I am still going with my team .”
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As far as potentially entertaining any other ideas to continue his fighting career, Emelianenko quickly shut that down. He promised that win, lose or draw, his upcoming bout with Ryan Bader is the last one of his career.
Emelianenko said at one time, he was interested in boxing, like so many other MMA fighters have done in recent years. But he’s put that behind him now. The same goes for any future opponents like ex-UFC champion Francis Ngannou, who is currently a free agent.
“Like right now, I watch as MMA stars are competing in boxing — I did think about it like if I could do it as they do or not, I had those thoughts,” Emelianenko said. “But I want to be done with it. Completely.
“This fight is my final fight. All I can think about is the fight with Bellator’s champion. I want to have this fight with the champion of Bellator, Ryan Bader and be done.”
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/2/3/23582082/fedor-emelianenko-reacts-to-khabib-nurmagomedov-walking-away-from-mma-says-he-could-never-do-that?rand=96749
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