Ariel Helwani isn’t buying some of the reported payouts from Bellator 290 and believes that there’s no point in disclosing any numbers if they aren’t accurate. Bellator’s first event of the year went up against a lackluster UFC Fight Night …
Ariel Helwani isn’t buying some of the reported payouts from Bellator 290 and believes that there’s no point in disclosing any numbers if they aren’t accurate. Bellator’s first event of the year went up against a lackluster UFC Fight Night card that took place in the middle of the night for U.S. viewers, and there’s…
Ariel Helwani isn’t buying some of the reported payouts from Bellator 290 and believes that there’s no point in disclosing any numbers if they aren’t accurate. Bellator’s first event of the year went up against a lackluster UFC Fight Night …
Ariel Helwani isn’t buying some of the reported payouts from Bellator 290 and believes that there’s no point in disclosing any numbers if they aren’t accurate. Bellator’s first event of the year went up against a lackluster UFC Fight Night card that took place in the middle of the night for U.S. viewers, and there’s…
Welcome to this week’s edition of MMA News’ Top 10 Finishes of the week! Every week there’s highlight-reel finishes all across the MMA world, and we’ve found some of the absolute best ones to showcase. The majority of January seemed to provide a fairly…
Welcome to this week’s edition of MMA News’ Top 10 Finishes of the week! Every week there’s highlight-reel finishes all across the MMA world, and we’ve found some of the absolute best ones to showcase. The majority of January seemed to provide a fairly slow start to the year’s MMA calendar, but things are definitely…
Dana White is not letting retirement change his opinion of Fedor Emelianenko. There is a well-documented history of the disputes between White and Fedor over the years, with the PRIDE heavyweight champion’s major career knock being that he never …
Dana White is not letting retirement change his opinion of Fedor Emelianenko. There is a well-documented history of the disputes between White and Fedor over the years, with the PRIDE heavyweight champion’s major career knock being that he never fought in the UFC. However, there is a group of the fanbase who do not seem…
Despite a tough loss to Ryan Bader at Bellator 290, the legendary Fedor Emelianenko is still content with his decision to retire from mixed martial arts. With a career spanning over two decades, the Russian icon has played a pivotal role in the history of the sport. From his legendary battles in Pride FC, Strikeforce, […]
Despite a tough loss to Ryan Bader at Bellator 290, the legendary Fedor Emelianenko is still content with his decision to retire from mixed martial arts.
With a career spanning over two decades, the Russian icon has played a pivotal role in the history of the sport. From his legendary battles in Pride FC, Strikeforce, and even the wildly controversial but short-lived fight brand Affliction, Emelianenko has done it all and left his mark on the MMA world forever.
While he will go down as one of the greatest fighters of all time, he is a special case because he never fought in what many consider the world’s greatest fight league: the UFC. However, despite this, it’s no question to virtually everybody in the MMA world that ‘The Last Emperor’ is one of if not the greatest heavyweights of all time.
Father time is an un-escapable assailant, though, and he conquers all. Even Fedor Emelianenko. This was sadly evident at Bellator 290, where Ryan Bader would deliver a brutal beat down on the legend. ‘The Last Emperor’ would take it with grace, though, and despite his claims that he feels he could’ve beat Bader, he still went out with dignity and is seemingly done for good with the unforgiving sport of MMA.
An emperor’s last dance, Fedor Emelianenko calls it quits at Bellator 290
Ryan Bader would finish Emelianenko just two and a half minutes into the first round via ground-and-pound TKO. Despite the brutal ending to his storied career, ‘The Last Emperor’ still went out with grace.
“I feel great. He hit me a few times, but I didn’t lose consciousness. I felt everything,” Fedor Emelianenko began, speaking at the post-fight press conference (H/T Sherdog).
“I’m getting older,” He continued. “My age [helped make my decision]. Plus, all my injuries from the past, they start to remind me of them. My body doesn’t feel the same way as it used to. The only thing [I’d do differently], I could have beat Ryan Bader, but it didn’t happen.”
“I was really happy to see all the legends, all the fighters,” he said. Alluding to the fact that many MMA legends were in attendance to watch Emelianenko’s last battle. “With some of them, I shared the ring. With some of them, I watched and learned from them. It was great to have them come and support me.”
Fedor Emelianenko would go on to mention his trademark stoicism. Something that became his brand, basically. As he approached every fight with a stone-cold demeanor. While also talking at every pre and post-fight conference or interview with that same stone-cold attitude. He performed for the world for two decades with that same spirit, as if he was unfazed by the insane talent he would do battle against.
“I take everything as it happens. If I win, lose, it doesn’t really matter. That’s how it has to happen,” he said. “You saw today, the whole arena was cheering for me. I get my popularity and my fan base based on my actions inside the cage, not because I was doing trash talk and talking bad about my opponents.”
Are you sad to see Fedor Emelianenko retire, despite it being his time to do so?
It should come as no surprise that fans need to be escorted from combat sporting events from time to time, and that’s what happened last night at Bellator 290. MMA Mania uploaded the following video to their Twitter showing the incident: It’s unclear what led up to this, though it’s quite likely alcohol was involved, […]
It should come as no surprise that fans need to be escorted from combat sporting events from time to time, and that’s what happened last night at Bellator 290.
MMA Mania uploaded the following video to their Twitter showing the incident:
It’s unclear what led up to this, though it’s quite likely alcohol was involved, perhaps even other substances.
All of these venues serve alcohol, and many MMA fans are out of line with their logic as it is, so it’s easy to see why it happens.
Bellator 290 hosted a great night of fights last night on February 4, 2023.
Former bantamweight champion Darrion Caldwell kicked off the card, falling short in on the cards to Nikita Mikhailov. Former PFL heavyweight champion Ali Isaev picked up a dominant win, Henry Corrales extended his win streak to three straight, UFC veteran Lorenz Larkin secured a stunning first round KO (elbow) to extend his own unbeaten streak to eight in a row.
Then we had the main card, where Brennan Ward secured his third straight knockout victory over UFC veteran Sobah Homasi, and then it was time for our two title fights.
Bellator middleweight champion Johnny Eblen absolutely dominated Anatoly Tokov to make the first defense of his newly claimed title, breaking Tokov’s 7-0 run inside the promotion, and then heavyweight champion Ryan Bader TKO’d former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko in their rematch, putting him up 2-0 in their series, both wins coming via first round knockout.
Emelianenko was 3-0 going into rematches up to that point, while Bader was 4-0 in rematches himself.
Nonetheless, Ryan Bader ended the night making the third successful defense of his Bellator heavyweight championship, and Fedor Emelianenko retired from the sport at 46 years of age with a record of 40-7.
What was your favorite fight at Bellator 290?
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