The legendary career of Fedor Emelianenko has come to an end at Bellator 290.
The final fight of Fedor Emelianenko was not what he wanted — let alone what most fight fans wanted — as he was dominated in less than three minutes by Ryan Bader in the Bellator 290 main event for the Bellator heavyweight title.
But following the fight, many legendary MMA figures, some of whom came from Emelianenko’s fighting past — including Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson — and others including Royce and Renzo Gracie, Benson Henderson and Chuck Liddell — came into the cage.’
While Emelianenko was defeated, he was still smiling after the fight as his legendary career was honored.
“On one side, I’m sad, of course that I didn’t deliver on the fight as I wanted to,” Emelianenko said in the post-fight interview. But on the other side, I’m glad all these people are here cheering for me, and all these veteran fighters that have walked the path with me for the last 20 years are here to greet me. So I’m very happy.
“I’m so happy to see all of you. Thank you so much.”
A retrospective after Fedor Emelianenko closes career after loss to Ryan Bader at Bellator 290
Emelianenko’s legend began back in 2000, when he made his professional MMA debut with RINGS. Emelianenko won his first four fights, including a win over Ricardo Arona, before a controversial loss to Tsuyoshi Kohsaka in the second round of the promotion’s 2000 King of Kings Tournament.
It would be the only time Emelianenko would lose for just short of a decade. He’d win five more times in RINGS, winning the 2001 Absolute Class tournament in the process, before joining the promotion where he’d make his name — PRIDE.
The names he’d fight and defeat in PRIDE are historical fan favorites — Antonio Rodrigo “Big Nog” Nogueira, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, Mark Hunt, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Gary Goodridge.
Emelianenko defeated Nogueira to become the inaugural heavyweight champion of the promotion and won the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix with wins over Coleman, Randleman, Naoya Ogawa and Nogueira.
Emelianenko also defeated Filipovic at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 to retain the PRIDE heavyweight championship in a battle that went on to be named not just Fight of the Year, but Fight of the Decade for the 2000s.
After PRIDE’s closure, fights with the likes of Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar didn’t come to fruition. But Emelianenko would score wins over Matt Lindland, Hong-man Choi, Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski before joining Strikeforce.
Emelianenko’s Strikeforce debut saw him in trouble against Brett Rogers before winning via second-round knockout. But in June 2010, Emelianko’s legendary unbeaten run came to an end when he was quickly submitted by Fabricio Werdum. He then left Strikeforce after additional losses to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Dan Henderson.
Emelianenko scored three wins against Jeff Monson, Satoshi Ishii and Pedro Rizzo before retiring in 2012. He would come back to the sport in 2015, however, and join Bellator just a couple of years later.
After an awkward loss to Matt Mitrione at Bellator NYC, Emelianenko entered the promotion’s Heavyweight Grand Prix to crown its first heavyweight champ in over two years. Emelianenko finished Frank Mir and Chael Sonnen before a loss to Bader.
He then scored a win over fellow PRIDE alum Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at Bellator 237 before his next bout was delayed due to the COVID pandemic. He’d return to the cage at Bellator 269 with a first-round knockout of Tim Johnson before tonight’s rematch with Bader.