Fedor Emelianenko waves to the crowd following a fight in 2018.
Scott Coker: Fedor Emelianenko asked for Ryan Bader title rematch for retirement fight
As the legendary career of Bellator MMA heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko nears the end, he’s asking for gold on the way out. According to Bellator MMA President Scott Coker, Emelianenko, who last fought at Bellator 269 in October, “The Last Emperor” would like to avenge his most recent loss in his retirement fight.
A winner of four of his last five fights, Fedor Emelianenko last loss to current heavyweight champion Ryan Bader back at Bellator 214 in January of 2019, which was the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix Final for the vacant belt. Riding a current two-fight winning streak in his career, Emelianenko has made it known that the end of his career is approaching and he wants one more chance to win the heavyweight title before he hangs up the gloves for good.
In an interview with Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie, Coker revealed that Emelianenko has asked for a rematch against Ryan Bader for the heavyweight title to be his retirement fight.
Scott Coker reveals Fedor Emelianenko asked for a Ryan Bader title rematch as his MMA retirement bout. 👀
@MikeBohnMMA's interview: https://t.co/JxxPUaBJTA pic.twitter.com/6AGNk02Eo2
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) December 31, 2021
“You know what’s funny? I knew you were gonna ask that question and the reason I knew you were going to ask that question is, that’s what Fedor asked me. He’s like ‘Hey, if Ryan [Bader] beats Moldavsky, I wanna fight Ryan Bader.’ That’s what he said and I said ‘Well, let’s just talk about it and I’ll give you some other possibilities in the beginning of January, and let’s see how the fight unwinds and then we’ll make a business decision Fedor, how about that?’ And he said Ok.”
Bader is currently scheduled to defend his heavyweight title against Valentin Moldavsky at Bellator 273 in January, Bellator MMA’s first event of the upcoming new year. While Scott Coker wouldn’t fully commit to giving Fedor Emelianenko a rematch title fight if Bader defends his belt, he did sound open to it and potentially has backup options waiting for the legendary heavyweight fighter.
One of the most notable and iconic fighters in the entire sport of mixed martial arts, Fedor Emelianenko has a slew of awards and titles to his credit throughout his long career, and wrapping it all up with a Bellator title is how he’d like to go out in his legendary career.
