Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t want the unfortunate end to Junior dos Santos’ Eagle FC debut to change plans for a potential co-promoted bout against Fedor Emelianenko.
Dos Santos suffered a third-round shoulder injury on Friday in the main event of Eagle FC 47, bringing his bout with Yorgan De Castro to a premature halt in his first appearance since his UFC departure. Dos Santos had been leading at the time, but De Casto was unable to carry on and won a TKO win.
Nurmagomedov and Bellator president Scott Coker had both publicly flirted with the idea of a co-promoted matchup between the two heavyweight luminaries prior to Friday’s bout, and even though dos Santos lost due to injury, Nurmagomedov still likes the idea.
“I think it’s still viable,” Nurmagomedov told The UG after Eagle FC 47, “because even if he lost, Junior looked amazing. Everyone saw tonight that he has made great strides and was looking incredible. And I think it’s still interesting. For his shoulder. I believe he should have surgery.
“I’m not a doctor, but I see a lot of injuries inside the gym like this with shoulders, with knees. I think after three or four months, he can come back to sparring, and at the end of the year we can make this fight. Next week, I will be sitting down with Scott Coker to talk about the fight .”
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The result of Eagle FC 47’s main event was another unfortunate break for dos Santos, adding to the frustration of a fighter who exited the UFC in early 2021 on the heels of four straight losses.
Prior to his injury, dos Santos was chopping down De Casto’s legs and finding his rhythm in a more competitive fight than he’s been in since his 2019 win over Derrick Lewis.
Despite the end result, the performance left Nurmagomedov impressed.
“Junior was looking amazing,” Nurmagomedov said. “[For a] I haven’t seen [him look like] what he looked like tonight for a long time. He was looking very good. It was probably his best look in the past five to six years. But it is what it is, you know? It is very difficult sport. You can’t even blink in this sport when you’re inside the cage, because I know how it is being inside the cage, standing with someone [who’s] a professional athlete in front of you. It’s very dangerous and you have to stay focused every single second.”
De Castro also called for the Emelianenko bout in his post-fight interview, imploring Nurmagomedov to book the matchup and declaring his willingness to sign on the dotted line as soon as Saturday. Even though this is unlikely for “The Mad Titan”, a fight for the first Eagle FC heavyweight might be enough.
“He was looking good too,” Nurmagomedov said. “De Castro showed his heart. He’s mentally a very strong fighter today, and he won. It’s a question of how, but he won. It’s a question of how, but it was a great matchup. De Castro vs. Rizvan Kuniev will fight for the title. We also work on Junior vs. Fedor at the end this year .”
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