Fedor Emelianenko and the UFC have been in talks for years, but at the end of the day, the relationship was not to be, and the MMA legend has never stepped foot inside the world famous Octagon. Emelianenko had one final chance to sign with the promotion last year when he was a free agent. However, the negotiations fell through once more. Instead, Emelianenko inked a deal with Bellator MMMA and his former promoter Scott Coker.
Emelianenko told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that his relationship with Coker and Bellator MMA’s willingness to sign competitors from his team in Russia were deciding factors.
“We had made great relations with Scott Coker,” Emelianenko said through an interpreter. “I received a very good offer from Bellator. In addition, Bellator invited my entire team. So all of the guys will be performing as well.”
Emelianenko has signed a multi-fight deal with the promotion, and he will fight Matt Mitrione at Bellator 172. Emelianenko (36-4) is currently riding a five fight winning streak. It’ll be the Bellator debut for “The Last Emperor.”
“Depending on the point of view, a lot of times you can be very close and sort of go around and around and never get to it,” he said. “There were some things that were not satisfactory for UFC, and there were some things that were not satisfactory for me, and we never came to an agreement.”
Emelianenko noted that he has two fights on his current deal with a mutual option for a third fight. He noted that he plans on retiring with Bellator.
“One of the main reasons was the ability for my team to perform, for my guys to perform,” Emelianenko said. “The other reasons were, we were not exactly on the same terms [with the UFC] as far as the financial conditions and some other things, some other smaller things as well.”
Emelianenko was last seen in an MMA cage in June at EFFN 50 by winning a controversial majority decision over Fabio Maldonado. Emelianenko stated he never considered to hang up the gloves again following the victory.
“I did not think so at the moment,” Emelianenko said. “I do understand that there isn’t a whole lot of time that I have left and considering my age, of course. But no, I didn’t think it was time to end my career after the last fight. No, I didn’t have any thoughts like that.”
Bellator 172 takes place on Saturday, February 18, 2017 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. The prelims will air online at 7:00 pm EST while the main card airs at 9:00 pm EST on Spike TV.
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