Fedor Emelianenko still has his sites set on Bellator gold.
Widely considered one of the greatest fighters of all-time, the 46-year old Emelianenko is nearing the end of his storied career, with his next fight set to be his last. According to Scott Coker of Bellator MMA, while Emelianenko has many possible opponents, the one that Emelianenko is most interested in fighting “The Last Emperor” may be his last.
“Fedor asked me if I was going to face Anderson Silva. I replied, “No, no.” Everybody just calm down.'” Coker said on The MMA Hour. “Listen, I would personally love to see that fight, but Fedor, he’s got his bullseye on Ryan Bader. Ryan Bader is his dream fight. So Ryan is resting and he wants to fight at the beginning of next year. So we’re going to have a conversation.”
Emelianenko and Bader fought in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix in 2019, with Bader securing a knockout in just 35 seconds to claim the vacant title. Since then, Emelianenko has won back-to-back fights by first-round knockout, and clearly still hopes to end his career on a high. MMA fandom does not quite agree. Emelianenko will face Anderson Silva in a rematch. This would be a great MMA tribute for both legends. Coker is aware that Silva is free to fight, but he also sees some obstacles.
” I think Anderson likes boxing,” Coker stated. He said that he enjoyed boxing, and that he will continue to box. He’s going to fight Jake Paul on the Showtime pay-per-view coming up. But if there was an opportunity, of course I would love to do it. That would be amazing. That would be incredible.
He has enjoyed his time at the squared circle. Following his UFC retirement in 2020, “The Spider”, Silva has been enjoying boxing wins over Tito Ortiz and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Next, Silva will face Jake Paul in a marquee matchup later this month.
With Fedor still likely out until 2023, a bout with Silva isn’t out of the question, but Coker says that there still would be a lot to figure out to make that happen.
” The other issue is that I don’t think it should be the weight,” Coker stated. Anderson might want the fight to take place under a specific weight. Fedor would be happy to say, “I’m heavyweight.” Why would I want to lose weight?’ Listen, we’re going down a path that’s hypothetical, but as a fan, I would love it. It would be unbelievable.”
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