“The Last Emperor” is a part of Bellator … sort of, but not really.
Former Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight title holder Fedor Emelianenko (34-4, 1 NC) will be joining mixed martial arts (MMA) legends Kazushi Sakuraba and Frank Shamrock for the Bellator 142: Dynamite fan fest event in San Jose. Bellator president Scott Coker confirmed the news (via MMAFighting.com).
Emelianenko is working his way back into MMA and is currently negotiating with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Before the announcement “The Last Emperor’s” manager Vadim Finkelchtein made it clear that he didn’t believe his fighter’s history with Coker over at Strikeforce would affect his decision on who he’d sign with.
In fact, Coker says that Bellator hasn’t been in talks with the Russian stalwart or his manager:
“We haven’t had any talks with Fedor and his people.”
It’s interesting that Bellator hasn’t at least had contact with Emelianenko since he announced his comeback. Coker took a trip to Japan for the annual New Year’s Eve Inoki Boom-Ba-Ye event in an attempt to sway Emelianenko out of retirement.
For more news on “The Last Emperor’s” comeback trail, stick with LowkickMMA.com.
