After months of speculation, Bellator MMA announced the return of Fedor Emelianenko on the promotion’s Dynamite card. The heavyweight legend is set to fight on the New Year’s Eve card in Tokyo, Japan, even though the card itself isn’t a Bellator event. Instead it’s the first event for a yet-to-be named organization run by Nobuyuki Sakakibara, former president of PRIDE Fighting Championships. Bellator, however, plans to allow some of its fighters to compete on the card.
The news is bound to disappoint fans who wanted to see Fedor mix it up with the heavyweights in the UFC, and it calls into question why Fedor came back in the first place. After saying that he wanted to avenge his most recent losses, all three of which came against fighters on the UFC’s roster, Fedor decided against joining that organization. The heavyweight division has the least talent across all mixed martial arts organizations, and that includes UFC’s heavyweight division which nowadays is shallow at best. Still, it’s undoubtedly much better than what any other organization has to offer.
Bellator’s heavyweight division includes UFC castoffs Cheick Kongo and Justin Wren, a former professional wrestler in Bobby Lashley, and side show attractions like 51-year old Ken Shamrock and sloppy backyard brawler Kevin Ferguson – better known as Kimbo Slice. With all due respect Bellator’s current heavyweight champion, Vitaly Minakov, is undefeated, despite not having faced anyone who is considered world class. But if Fedor really wanted to fight the “strongest fighters in the world” like he said in August, he would have gone to the UFC.
This latest move by Fedor looks like a cash grab, as that is the only way he stands to benefit from this type of comeback. The best case scenario for Fedor is collecting wins and paychecks for beating up journeyman heavyweights, which does nothing for his legacy. At least when he spurned the UFC for Strikeforce, both organizations had talented heavyweights. Some even thought Strikeforce had the better heavyweight division at the time. This time around it’s obvious that Fedor chose a lower level of competition in search of cash. Fedor’s record speaks for itself, as he holds victories over some of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Unfortunately, like many other fighters, his career is ending with a whimper, rather than a resounding bang.
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