Fedor Emelianenko News

Josh Evanoff - June 1, 2022

Former UFC title challenger Alistair Overeem has confirmed he’s not done inside the cage. However, he’s also not currently aiming to fight fellow legend Fedor Emelianenko right now. Overeem last competed in February of last year, getting stopped by Alexander Volkov. Following the defeat, the 42-year-old was released from the UFC. Despite interest from Bellator, he decided to sign with Glory Kickboxing.

Josh Evanoff - May 18, 2022

Khabib Nurmagomedov would like to work with Bellator to book Fedor Emelianenko’s final fight. The head of Eagle FC would like to send Junior dos Santos in for the job. ‘Cigano’ is set to face fellow UFC veteran Yorgan De Castro this Friday at Eagle FC 47. The bout is slated as a title eliminator bout. The winner of the fight was expected to face Eagle FC heavyweight champion Rizvan Kuniev, well before today.

Josh Evanoff - January 28, 2022

Ryan Bader is currently set to fight Valentin Moldavsky at Bellator 273. Despite his focus being on the interim champion, there’s still a massive looming figure in the form of Fedor Emelianenko. ‘Darth’ defeated the Russian in the finals of the 2018 Bellator heavyweight Grand-Prix. With the win, Bader became one of the few to defeat the legend, and also claimed the promotion’s heavyweight title.

Chris Taylor - November 13, 2021

Bellator is planning to have a ‘massive’ retirement fight for MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko in his home country of Russia. Emelianenko (40-6 MMA) recently returned to action at last month’s Bellator 269 event, where he scored a sensational knockout victory over Tim Johnson (see that here). The win marked Fedor’s second first round finish in a row, as he had previously stopped Quinton ‘Rampage‘ Jackson.

Christopher Taylor - October 25, 2021

Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier has responded after receiving a ton of backlash for his comments about Fedor Emelianenko. Prior to ‘The Last Emperor’ earning a stunning knockout over Tim Johnson at last weekend’s Bellator 268 event, Cormier had suggested that Fedor would have been “average at best” in the UFC.

Adam Martin - October 24, 2021

Bellator heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko issued a statement following his first-round KO win over Tim Johnson at Bellator 269. Emelianenko hadn’t fought since a knockout win over Quinton Jackson in December 2019. However, it looked like the ring rust was not an issue at all as Emelianenko went into the ring and knocked Johnson out in the first round in a devastating fashion. It was an incredible performance by Emelianenko, who at age 45 continues to defy Father Time. He still appears to have plenty of gas left in his tank despite being one of the oldest heavyweights in the sport as he pulled off yet another incredible finish in his MMA career.

Adam D Martin - October 24, 2021

Bellator president Scott Coker admits that he was blown away by Fedor Emelianenko’s first-round KO win over Tim Johnson at Bellator 269. Emelianenko took on Johnson in the main event of Saturday’s Bellator 269 event in Russia, and he won the fight in the first round by brutal knockout. Considering Emelianenko is now 45 years old, it was incredible to see how fast his hands still are at this point in his career. In fact, Emelianenko’s boss Coker was so blown away by his performance that he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face following the big knockout.

Adam D Martin - October 24, 2021

Watch heavyweight MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko land his incredible knockout on Tim Johnson in slow motion at Saturday’s Bellator 269 event. The 45-year-old Emelianenko entered the fight with Johnson as the underdog but he got the job done in the first round with a brutal knockout. Don’t look now, but Emelianenko is now riding a two-fight win streak after knocking out Quinton Jackson in his last fight two years ago. Overall, Emelianenko has won four of his last five fights, with all four of those wins coming by way of knockout. However, he has said that he is considering retiring from the sport, so it’s hard to say for sure whether or not this Johnson fight was his last. Knowing Emelianenko, he will likely fight again. However, we should still enjoy his beautiful knockout win over Johnson, especially since it could be the last he ever lands.

Chris Taylor - October 23, 2021

MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko returns to the cage in the headliner of tonight’s Bellator 269 event for a heavyweight bout with Tim Johnson. Emelianenko (39-6 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since December of 2019, where he earned a first round knockout victory over Quinton ‘Rampage‘ Jackson. ‘The Last Emperor’ enters tonight’s matchup having gone 3-2 over his past five fights overall.

Chris Taylor - October 23, 2021

MMA returns to Moscow this evening with Bellator 269, a ten-bout fight card headlined by heavyweights Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Johnson. Emelianenko (39-6 MMA) will be returning to action for the first time since December of 2019, where he earned a first round knockout victory over Quinton ‘Rampage‘ Jackson. ‘The Last Emperor’ has gone 3-2 over his past five fights overall.

Adam D Martin - October 22, 2021

UFC color commentator Daniel Cormier believes that heavyweight MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko would have been “average at best” in the UFC. At one point in time just over a decade ago, there was a legitimate chance that Emelianenko would sign with the UFC. However, it didn’t end up happening, and it never did in the years since then. As far as Cormier goes, that’s all good because having Emelianenko fight in the UFC wouldn’t have changed anything. Speaking on the Debate DC show, the former UFC champ says Emelianenko would have struggled in the UFC.

Adam D Martin - October 20, 2021

MMA legend and current Bellator heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko blasted UFC president Dana White, saying “he has no respect towards fighters.” Emelianenko is one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, having fought for many of the top fight promotions in the sport’s history. The Russian currently stars for Bellator MMA, where this weekend he fights UFC veteran Tim Johnson in a heavyweight bout that headlines Bellator 269. There is a chance that this could be the final fight of Emelianenko’s incredible MMA career, and if it’s the case, then he would do so without having fought for the UFC. It’s arguably the biggest “what if” story in mixed martial arts history as Emelianenko was never able to prove his heavyweight greatness at the UFC level.

Cole Shelton - October 19, 2021

Tim Johnson says it is still surreal to think he is fighting Fedor Emelianenko in Russia, in what could be the Russian’s final fight. When Bellator announced Emelianenko would be fighting back home in Russia, many thought he would be fighting a fellow legend. Yet, that wasn’t the case as instead, he will be fighting Johnson at Bellator 269, who has a theory as to why Emelianenko picked him.

Adam D Martin - September 20, 2021

Mixed martial arts legend Fedor Emelianenko shared his take on MMA ring card girls, suggesting that they should “dress them more decent.” Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmaogomedov recently had some negative comments to make about MMA ring card girls, essentially saying they don’t add anything to the sport. Since “The Eagle” made those comments, a number of other fighters have reacted to what he said, with some agreeing with what Nurmagomedov said but with many others disagreeing. If you ask Emelianenko, who has been around his fair share of MMA events, he has no problem with the ring card girls. The only thing that Emelianenko hopes is that they could be dressed more decently, as he said in a recent interview about it.

Adam D Martin - August 25, 2021

Heavyweight great Alistair Overeem says that fellow legend Fedor Emelianenko declined to fight him in Bellator not to mention in Strikeforce. Overeem became a free agent following a knockout loss to Alexander Volkov earlier this year in the UFC. “The Demolition Man” was open to signing with different promotions and had talks with Bellator about potentially fighting Emelianenko, but the fight didn’t end up getting booked, and Emelianenko instead chose Tim Johnson to fight. For his part, Overeem decided that he will take a break from MMA for now and re-joined GLORY.

Drake Riggs - August 12, 2021

Tim Johnson is the last person the MMA community expected as the next opponent of Fedor Emelianenko in Bellator’s debut in Russia. On Oct. 23 in Moscow, Emelianenko and Johnson will lock horns. The announcement revealed a few weeks back gave fans and the fighters alike time to fantasize about possible matchups with Josh Barnett, Junior dos Santos, Alistair Overeem, and even Anderson Silva. So what happened?

Drake Riggs - July 29, 2021

Josh Barnett vs. Fedor Emelianenko is one of MMA’s biggest fights that got away — but what if it didn’t have to? The pair of heavyweight legends were originally set to clash in 2009 under the short-lived Affliction banner. Fast-forward 12 years and they’re both in the same promotion once again as Emelianenko has his next bout set for October at Bellator’s first show in Russia.

Adam D Martin - July 28, 2021

Mixed martial arts legend and current Bellator heavyweight fighter Fedor Emelianenko said that he is interested in boxing Roy Jones Jr. Emelianenko, generally regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters who ever lived, is now 44 years old and he is expected to make his return to the Bellator cage this fall when he fights in Moscow, Russia. However, while “The Last Emperor” is committed to fighting in MMA his next time out, he can’t help but admit there is the possibility of a boxing match.