Fedor Emelianenko explains why he’s “not interested” in potential fight with Junior dos Santos

By Cole Shelton - June 6, 2022

Fedor Emelianenko isn’t interested in facing Junior dos Santos.

Fedor Emelianenko

Before Dos Santos made his Eagle FC debut against Yorgan De Castro, Khabib Nurmagomedov said he wanted to meet with Scott Coker to discuss a possible ‘Emelianenko vs. Dos Santos’ matchup.

Although ‘JDS’ wound up losing to De Castro due to a shoulder injury, ‘The Eagle’ remained hopeful that a fight with ‘The Last Emperor’ could still be made.

“I think it’s still viable because even if he lost, Junior looked amazing,” Nurmagomedov told The UG about Emelianenko-dos Santos.”Everybody see tonight, he’s improved a lot and he was looking amazing. And I think it’s still interesting. I think for his shoulder, [as an] athlete — because I know when you have an injury, what you need, how many months you need to recover, everything — I think if he makes this next week, surgery, I think definitely he needs surgery… Next week I’m going to sit with Scott Coker and we’re going to discuss about this fight.”

Fedor Emelianenko

However, Fedor Emelianenko says the fight no longer interests him due to Junior dos Santos losing his last fight.

“A meeting was planned with [Bellator president] Scott Coker. But, as I understand it, Scott and I are not interested in this fight with Junior dos Santos.  First of all, because of the defeat of the latter [Dos Santos],” Emelianenko said to St. Petersburg-based media giant Okko (via RT).

Emelianenko is 40-6 and one No Contest and is coming off a first-round KO win over Tim Johnson back in Russia. Prior to that, he beat Rampage Jackson in Japan after losing to Ryan Bader for the heavyweight belt. Fedor’s next fight is expected to be his retirement bout and many wanted to see the Dos Santos fight given they are both legends of the sport and of the division. Yet, it appears unlikely unless the Brazilian goes out and gets another win.

What do you make of Fedor Emelianenko shooting down the Junior dos Santos fight?

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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Fedor Emelianenko Junior dos Santos UFC