Is Fedor Emelianenko vs Anderson Silva a possibility for Bellator MMA?
Could we see Fedor Emelianenko vs Anderson Silva in 2023?
Bellator MMA President Scott Coker was on The MMA Hour recently and addressed the unlikely possibility of two of the greatest mixed martial artists on the planet facing one another under his banner.
Former world champions Fedor Emelianenko (40-6) and Anderson Silva will forever be etched in stone as two of the best to have ever competed not only in their respective weight classes but in the sport of MMA.
While former longtime UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has a boxing match against Jake Paul pending on October 29, Emelianenko, the former PRIDE FC heavyweight champion is contemplating retirement and how his last fight will be played out.
“Fedor hit me up, ‘Am I going to fight Anderson Silva?’ Coker said on the program. “I said, ‘No, no. Everybody just calm down.’ Listen, I would personally love to see that fight, but Fedor, he’s got his bullseye on Ryan Bader. He wants to fight Ryan Bader. So, Ryan is resting, and he wants to fight at the beginning of next year. So, we’re going to have a conversation.”
“The Last Emperor” Emelianenko, 46, is coming off two wins under the Bellator banner, finishes over Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, and Tim Johnson. Those victories, however, came after a first-round defeat at the hands of Ryan Bader which is why Fedor would like to extract his revenge and claim that loss back.
“The Spider” Silva, 47, currently is not under contract to any MMA promotion but with the Paul fight looming as well as other obstacles such as weight class being in the way, Coker doesn’t see the fight happening anytime soon.
“I think Anderson enjoys boxing,” Coker said. “I haven’t talked to him, but I think he enjoys boxing and he’s going to continue boxing. 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. The two GOATs, that would be amazing.
“The other problem is, I think the weight,” Coker said. “Even if you wanted to put that fight together, I think Anderson would probably want it to be under a certain weight, and Fedor’s like, ‘I’m a 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.”
