Fedor Emelianenko waves to the crowd following a fight in 2018.
Fedor Emelianenko’s retirement fight will no longer take place in Russia
One of the greatest heavyweights of all time, Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko, was originally set to make one last walk to the cage in his home country of Russia.
However, with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Emelianenko’s retirement fight will have to take place elsewhere.
At the Bellator 276 post-fight press conference, Bellator president Scott Coker told MMA media that “it’s definitely not going to happen in Moscow this year.” Coker continued, “for obvious reasons, we’ll be looking for an alternative site.”
Coker goes on to say that “we had an amazing show planned in Moscow…we originally had approval to do the fight in Red Square.”
Coker continued, “it was going to be just a great send-off.”
“The Last Emperor” (40-6-0, 1 NC) has been on a ‘retirement tour,’ in which he knocked out Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at Bellator 237 and Tim Johnson at Bellator 269.
🐐The Last Emperor scores the KO in Moscow!
What a moment for Fedor, in Bellator’s historic first Russian event.#Bellator269 pic.twitter.com/gZq4pH5bMa
— Bellator MMA (@BellatorMMA) October 23, 2021
As Fedor Emelianenko approaches his 46th birthday, it is unclear who his last opponent will be or where the fight will take place. Nevertheless, it will be a great send-off for one of the greatest to ever do it.
After getting his start in combat sports in his native country of Russia, Emelianenko made a name for himself in Japan where he would capture the PRIDE FC heavyweight title and the status of “heavyweight GOAT.”
