Despite apparently announcing he was calling it a career after stopping Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson at Bellator Japan, Fedor Emelianenko intends to fight on.
Pump the brakes on that Fedor retirement talk. While Fedor Emelianenko appeared to retire after his win over Rampage Jackson at Bellator 237 on Saturday night, ‘The Last Emperor’ isn’t done just yet.
It seems a little was lost in the translation in the end. Fedor, who stopped the former Pride and UFC champion by way of knockout roughly halfway through the opening round of their main event fight, took to the mic afterward. The usually stoic Russian said via translator that “Unfortunately and regretfully I want to say perhaps my career stops here, on a win in Japan where my career started. I’m finishing my career here.”
Backstage following the event, however, Fedor clarified that he was referring to the bout being his final fight in Japan. “I’m doing my tour and this is my final fights, and I want to do a fight in Japan, I want to do a fight in U.S., and I want to do Russia,” Emelianenko said (via MMA Junkie). “So Japan, it was my retirement fight in Japan. So I’m not retiring.”
That’s more in line with what Bellator CEO Scott Coker has been saying ahead of Bellator Japan. No potential dates or opponents have been lined up for Fedor’s remaining bouts. However, one interested party is Josh Barnett, who was linked to a 2009 fight with Emelianenko before a positive drug test from ‘The Warmaster’ (or the ‘Babyfaced Assassin’ back then) scrapped both the fight and promotion Affliction.
