Fedor Emelianenko waves to the crowd following a fight in 2018.
Fedor Emelianenko unsure on retirement during ‘farewell’ tour
Bellator and Scott Coker have told Fedor Emelianenko that he can retire with the promotion. They also have three final fights planned on a ‘farewell’ tour. The first is headlining Bellator 237 in Tokyo, Japan against Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, after that, the other two are unknown.
Yet, the legend of the sport is uncertain about his farewell tour and whether or not he will retire after the three fights. Rather, he plans on fighting the three scraps and seeing how he feels.
“That’s what we discussed, and that’s what we agreed on, but let’s see how I feel,” Emelianenko said through an interpreter (via MMA Junkie). “Right now, the plan is just like Scott laid out. There’s going to be three fights, and it’s kind of a retirement tour, but when the tour is over, he said let’s see how I feel. We’ll go from there.”
The tour begins in Japan where Emelianenko had a ton of success in Pride and is a legend there. For Fedor Emelianenko, he is looking to put on a show for the fans and wants them to be happy seeing him fight again.
“I think I’ve already shown the fans everything there is for me to show them,” Emelianenko said. “This will be more like a farewell fight. I would like to entertain them. I want them to be happy watching me fight. And I would like to come back to Japan as a guest.”
In the end, Emelianenko is looking forward to the Rampage fight, but it is one he didn’t expect to happen in his career. Now that they are at heavyweight it is an interesting fight.
“Early on he was probably lighter, faster and younger,” Emelianenko said. “And now, much like myself, he is a little heavier, a little slower, but he probably hits a lot harder.”
