Tag: Bellator 290

Dana White won’t ‘sh*t on Fedor’ on retirement day, but …

If UFC boss Dana White is part of a discussion of all-time GOATs in MMA, best keep Fedor Emelianenko’s name out of your mouth.

LAS VEGAS – If [autotag]Dana White[/autotag] is part of a discussion of the all-time GOATs in MMA, best keep [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag]’s name out of your mouth.

Emelianenko, a Russian regarded by many as one of the greatest in the sport’s history, not just at heavyweight but in any weight class, had his final fight Saturday near Los Angeles.

Emelianenko (40-6 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) challenged champion Ryan Bader (30-7 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) for the heavyweight title in the Bellator 290 main event. It was a rematch of a fight that won Bader the belt in 2019 when he took out “The Last Emperor” in 35 seconds.

He needed a little longer Saturday, but Bader still put the 46-year-old away in the first round.

Emelianenko will focus on coaching and training fighters who are part of his team in Russia. But now that he’s officially retired his resume is more clear for those who want to have the discussion about where he falls on the list of the sport’s all-time greats.

Because Emelianenko never fought in the UFC, he has detractors – including UFC president Dana White, who once famously tried to get the Russian to the UFC, but never could close the deal, reportedly largely because of a refusal to co-promote with M-1 Global.

After Emelianenko’s loss to Bader, who used to be among White’s light heavyweights in the UFC and one of his “Ultimate Fighter” season winners, White didn’t exactly dole out high praise.

“What is the guy, like 46? Yeah – he shouldn’t be fighting,” White said after UFC Fight Night 218 in Las Vegas. “But he’s a grown-ass man and he can do whatever he wants to do. But he probably should’ve hung it up a few years ago.”

White said there’s a proverbial asterisk on Emelianenko’s resume because he wasn’t a UFC fighter.

“I don’t dislike Fedor or anything like that,” White said. “It didn’t happen. We gave it a shot. You can’t say we didn’t try. We gave it a shot, and it is what it is.

“I don’t want to sh*t on the guy – he’s retiring (Saturday) and all that stuff. But you guys know the old interviews with me – I never thought Fedor was that (good). I mean, he got knocked out by middleweight Dan Henderson. I think some of the guys in the business, people liked them, so they praised them. He never got to test himself over here. I never was one of the guys that thought he was one of the greatest of all time.”

Over the course of nearly a decade, Emelianenko won 27 straight fights, mostly under the PRIDE banner, but later for the short-lived Affliction promotion and Strikeforce, which is where he forged a relationship with Scott Coker, who brought him into the fold with Bellator once he was president there.

For Bellator, Emelianenko beat former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir, former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton Jackson, former UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen and former Bellator title challenger Timothy Johnson – all by first-round knockout. But his three losses in the promotion all were first-round knockouts, as well.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 290.

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Fedor Emelianenko at peace with decision to retire after Bellator 290 loss

Most MMA retirements can be taken with a grain of salt, but it seems like the one that happened Saturday is likely to stick.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Most MMA retirements can be taken with a grain of salt, but it seems like the one that happened Saturday is likely to stick.

All-time heavyweight MMA legend [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] (40-7 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) set down his gloves inside the cage at Bellator 290 following a first-round TKO loss to champion Ryan Bader (31-7 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) in their main event rematch.

Things went better for the legendary Russian than they did the first time the two fought in 2019, when Bader knocked out “The Last Emeperor” in 35 seconds to win the then-vacant title. This time, Bader needed a little longer, but still just half a round at Kia Forum near Los Angeles.

Bader defended his title with the win and sent Emelianenko into retirement with a loss. At 46, Emelianenko seems content with his decision.

“I feel great (about my decision),” Emelianenko said at his post-fight news conference. “My age (helped me make up my mind), first of all, but all my injuries I’ve had in the past started to remind me of it. My body doesn’t feel the same as it used to be. The only thing (I’d do differently is) beat Ryan Bader, but it didn’t happen.”

Emelianenko’s decision to hang up the gloves was one that was made long before Saturday.

Bellator knew for months that Emelianenko’s next fight likely would be his last. The promotion was in the process of booking his retirement bout in front of his home Russian fans in Moscow’s Red Square for what would have been a potentially historic moment in MMA history.

But when Russia invaded Ukraine and started a war that now is approaching a year old, thinking about putting on a fight card in Russia became an exercise in futility for Bellator.

It wound up on the West Coast, instead, and there was a buildup for his sendoff, as well as many retired MMA luminaries on hand from the early MMA era – ex-fighters like Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Royce Gracie and Matt Hughes.

Emelianenko said those former fighters gave him a boost. But he also said he’ll remain active in the sport with the team he trains in Russia.

“It’s a part of my life – one of the most important parts of my life – my family and my team,” he said.

Emelianenko said even more than the wins and legendary fights – and there are plenty with his name attached, particularly under the PRIDE banner in Japan – he wants to be known for the kind of sportsmanship that has become an MMA rarity.

“I want to be remembered as (a modest competitor),” he said. “I take everything as it happens. If I win, lose, it doesn’t really matter. That’s how it has to happen. You saw today, the whole arena was cheering me up (after I lost). 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.”

Check out Emelianenko’s full post-fight interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 290.

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Bellator 290 post-event facts: Ryan Bader keeps perfect rematch record

The attention was on Fedor Emelianenko after Bellator 290, but Ryan Bader continued to show he’s elite in a rematch setting.

The first Bellator event of 2023, Bellator 290, went down Saturday at Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and it marked a monumental occasion for both the promotion and the sport.

In addition to being the organization’s debut showcase on CBS, the card marked the retirement fight of legendary former PRIDE champion [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] (40-7 MMA, 4-3 BMMA), who suffered a first-round TKO loss to heavyweight titleholder [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] (31-7 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) in their main event rematch.

The co-headliner saw middleweight champion [autotag]Johnny Eblen [/autotag](13-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) remain undefeated with a unanimous decision win over [autotag]Anatoly Tokov[/autotag] (31-3 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) for his first title defense.

For more on the numbers behind the title bouts, as well as the rest of the card, check below for MMA Junkie’s post-event facts from Bellator 290.

Johnny Eblen: I’m the best middleweight in the world after Bellator 290

After Bellator 290, modesty took a back seat to reality, as far as Johnny Eblen likely is concerned.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Modesty took a back seat to reality Saturday, as far as [autotag]Johnny Eblen[/autotag] likely is concerned.

Eblen not long ago only was willing to say he was Bellator’s best middleweight after he won the title with a dominant performance against Gegard Mousasi in just his 12th career fight. But after Eblen (13-0 MMA, 9-0 BMMA) picked up his first title defense with a unanimous decision over Anatoly Tokov (31-4 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) in the Bellator 290 co-main event, things may have changed.

“I think I’m the best in the world now,” Eblen told MMA Junkie at his post-fight news conference at Kia Forum near Los Angeles. “How I’m training, how much I’m getting better exponentially, I think I’m the best in the world – hands down.”

The win wasn’t a clean sweep for the 31-year-old Eblen, a former standout wrestler at the University of Missouri who has seven of his nine wins in the promotion by way of what typically amounts to stifling congrol.

So Eblen, who trains at the esteemed American Top Team in South Florida, said he’ll assess what he could’ve done better, particularly in the first two rounds against Tokov – who was unbeaten in Bellator until he ran into Eblen.

“I was pretty happy of the performance,” Eblen said. “I’m pretty critical of myself, so I’m going to watch it back and I’m going to pick at it and see what things I could’ve done better. There are definitely things I could’ve done better.

“I got hit. I don’t want to get hit. I could’ve been a little more exciting in a couple of rounds, but it’s a 25-minute fight and I’ve got a good gas tank. I’m just trying to go out there and win fights and be exciting. I’m going nitpick when I watch it back and I’ll get better from it.”

Eblen said his cornermen didn’t tell him explicitly that he lost the first round against Tokov, but he had a feeling that he did. Still, he said he never panicked and just settled into a pace he could control.

“They didn’t say I lost the round,” Eblen said. “I kind of knew, but they were saying stay away from the right hand because he was trying to hit me with the right hand. He was trying to time me. And to be in and out – don’t stand in front of him after I exchange with him. I was calm, collected. I knew I kind of lost (the first round), but I put it in the past. There’s nothing you can do about it. I came out hard in the second round and dropped his ass.

“Of course (my strategy was to wrestle). I couldn’t get the timing down in the first, so I couldn’t mix my wrestling like I wanted to. Once I got his timing and once I hurt him, I started going to the wrestling more.”

Eblen said an upcoming fight between Mousasi and rising contender Fabian Edwards, brother of UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards, could determine who he fights next. They headline the promotion’s return to Paris on May 12.

Another name currently in Bellator’s middleweight top 10 who could make a case for a shot likely would include Lorenz Larkin, who on Saturday won for the eighth straight time after he opened his Bellator career with two losses in 2017.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 290.

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Champ Ryan Bader felt pressure to send Fedor Emelianenko into retirement with loss at Bellator 290

The pressure wasn’t just on Ryan Bader to win Saturday – it was on him to win, and do it memorably against MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – The pressure wasn’t just on [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] to win Saturday – it was on him to win, and do it memorably.

Heavyweight champion Bader (31-7 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) stopped all-time MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko (40-7 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) in the first round of their main event rematch at Bellator 290. Bader defended his title with the win and sent “The Last Emperor” into retirement at 46, with a loss.

But he said there was tension that came with the memory of a 35-second knockout win over Emelianenko in 2019, as well as what comes with being a reasonably heavy betting favorite – and knowing most of the fans at Kia Forum near Los Angeles wanted to see Emelianenko go out with a fairytale ending.

“It’s not necessarily being the bad guy,” Bader sad at his post-fight news conference not long after he needed a little more than a half-round to put the legendary Russian away with a TKO. “It’s the pressure that gets put on you because you’re supposed to win. ‘You did it in 35 seconds’ (the first time). ‘He’s this old,’ all that kind of stuff. But I know how dangerous he is. Him in there winging those punches at me, that hard right hand – it’s going to knock anyone out if it connects. I think that’s the biggest part of it was the pressure of you’re supposed to go in there and beat him soundly. Luckily, I did.

“… When it ended, I went up and talked to Fedor a little bit. It’s bittersweet – he’s one of my favorite fighters, for sure. But I had a job to do, and that’s what I did.”

Bellator knew for months that Emelianenko’s next fight likely would be his last. The promotion was in the process of booking his retirement bout in front of his home Russian fans in Moscow’s Red Square for what would have been a potentially historic moment in MMA history.

But when Russia invaded Ukraine and started a war that now is approaching a year old, thinking about putting on a fight card in Russia became an exercise in futility for Bellator.

It wound up on the West Coast, instead, and there was a buildup for his sendoff, as well as many retired MMA luminaries on hand from the early MMA era – ex-fighters like Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Royce Gracie and Matt Hughes.

And while the talk may have been mostly about Emelianenko’s exit from the sport and not what’s next for Bader, eventually he’ll need to figure out who will be coming after his title.

“I don’t know who’s next. That’s the thing,” Bader said. “I’d like some new blood. I feel like I kind of keep recycling a little bit, and that’s because these guys are good and they work their way back up and the deserve the shot. I haven’t thought about it. I’m just enjoying tonight and then just kind of see. I’d love some new blood. I know (Valentin) Moldavsky and Linton Vassell are fighting (at Bellator 292 in March). That would be the logical one. Some new blood would be nice, but I don’t know who.

“(Moldavsky) had a hard fight, a close fight. I think him and Linton Vassell are right there, and they’re fighting. I fought both of them, and we’d be recycling again. But I’d probably say Moldavsky just based on he beat Linton last time. But Linton’s been on a tear, too. I think that was his first heavyweight fight when he fought Moldavsky. Maybe he found a way to deal with that heavyweight body. … Logically, that would be next, but maybe there’s someone else. Who knows.”

The highest ranked fighter in Bellator’s heavyweight top 10 who hasn’t fought Bader is Steve Mowry (11-0 MMA, 7-0 BMMA), who stayed unbeaten Saturday with a win over the previously undefeated Ali Isaev (9-1 MMA, 0-1 BMMA).

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 290.

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Ryan Bader def. Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 290: Best photos

Check out these photos from Ryan Bader’s heavyweight title defense vs. Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 290.

Check out these photos from Ryan Bader’s heavyweight title defense against Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 290, which took place at Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and aired live on CBS. (Photos courtesy of Lucas Noonan, Bellator MMA)

Bellator 290 live and official results, video stream

Bellator 290 takes place Saturday, and you can join us for a live video stream and official results beginning at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT).

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Bellator 290 takes place Saturday, and you can join us for a live video stream and official results beginning at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT).

The event takes place at Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The main card airs on CBS following prelims on MMA Junkie.

In the main event, heavyweight champion Ryan Bader (30-7 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) puts his title on the line in a rematch with Fedor Emelianenko (40-6 MMA, 4-2 BMMA), who is set to retire after the fight. Bader won their first meeting in 2019 with a 35-second knockout.

In the co-feature, middleweight champ Johnny Eblen (12-0 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) puts his belt up for the first time when he takes on challenger Anatoly Tokov (31-3 MMA, 7-0 BMMA). Plus, Sabah Homasi (17-10 MMA, 6-4 BMMA) and Brennan Ward (16-6 MMA, 11-6 BMMA) will be Bellator’s first fight to air on CBS to open the main card.

Full Bellator 290 results include:

Johnny Eblen def. Anatoly Tokov at Bellator 290: Best photos

Check out these photos from Johnny Eblen’s middleweight title defense against Anatoly Tokov at Bellator 290.

Check out these photos from Johnny Eblen’s middleweight title defense against Anatoly Tokov at Bellator 290, which took place at Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., and aired live on CBS. (Photos courtesy of Lucas Noonan, Bellator MMA)

Bellator 290 results: Fedor Emelianenko says farewell after quick loss to Ryan Bader in retirement fight

Ryan Bader said it was “bittersweet” making quick work of legend Fedor Emelianenko in the final fight of his career at Bellator 290.

INGLEWOOD, Calif – [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] said all week that he didn’t mind being “the bad guy” against [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] in his retirement fight. A man of his word, he ran through “The Last Emperor.”

Bader spoiled Emelianenko’s final appearance in an MMA cage by making quick work of him, winning by first-round TKO after just 2 minutes and 30 seconds to retain his heavyweight title. The fight served as the headliner for Bellator’s debut on CBS at Kia Forum..

The speed difference between Bader, 39, and 46-year-old Emelianenko was evident from the start. It didn’t take long for Bader (31-7 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) to clip Emelianenko (40-7 MMA, 4-3 BMMA) with a right hand that staggered him back onto the canvas. Bader pounced, then settled into position before unleashing punches and hammerfists while controlling one of Emelianenko’s wrists. It left referee Herb Dean no choice but to step in.

Afterward, Bader admitted he didn’t exactly enjoy what had to be done.

“It was bittersweet. I idolize him like every other MMA fan and fighter coming up,” Bader said before addressing the crowd and Emelianenko directly. “First off, get on your feet and give that man a hand for what he’s done for the sport. He put the sport on his back. That man is a legend right there, and I’m so glad I could be a part of his story – so thank you very much, Fedor. You’re the man. But I had to come in and do my job at the end of the day. I got the win, and then you’ve got to move on.”

Moving on is what Emelianenko will be doing as he announced before the fight that he would hang up his gloves. To honor him, Bellator invited a who’s who of MMA luminaries who were in attendance, including former opponents Mark Coleman and Dan Henderson, as well as Josh Barnett, Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, Matt Hughes, “Rampage” Jackson, and Frank Shamrock.

Emelianenko was touched by the show of appreciation by his peers and the adoring crowd.

“On one side, I’m sad, of course, that I didn’t deliver in the fight like I wanted to,” Emelianenko said. “But on the other, I’m so happy that all these people are here cheering for me, and all these veteran fighters that walked the path with me for almost the last 20 years are here to greet me. I’m very happy. I’m so happy to see all the fighters that are here to support me. Thank you so much.”

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Emelianenko, who made his professional debut in May of 2000, was considered the pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter in the world during his heyday when he competed for Pride FC. Although he never fought for the UFC, he holds victories over a number of former UFC champions. He leaves the sport as one of the greatest fighters of all time and is considered by many as the greatest heavyweight.

The fight between Bader and Emelianenko was a rematch of their 2019 Bellator heavyweight grand prix final, which Bader won in 35 seconds to first claim the title. He expressed an appreciation for being part of Emelianenko’s stories career.

“It’s not even the wins. It’s being able to compete against that man,” Bader said. “That first fight was amazing, and this one – same deal. It’s such a buildup whenever you’re fighting Fedor and standing across that cage from him. It’s pretty surreal, so to do it twice – I don’t care about beating him twice. I care about sharing the cage with that man. It was a good run.”

Complete Bellator 290 results:

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 290.

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Bellator 290 salaries: Ryan Bader, Johnny Eblen lead disclosed purses

Check out the disclosed pay for all 28 fighters on Bellator 290, according to the California State Athletic Commission.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Twenty-eight fighters competed Saturday at Bellator 290 with the titleholders leading all disclosed payouts.

California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) executive director Andy Foster released a full list of fighter payouts Saturday to MMA Junkie. The amounts reflect the disclosed payouts only and do not include any off-contract bonuses, sponsor payments, or discretionary bonuses.

One of five fighters who pocketed six-figure disclosed paydays, [autotag]Ryan Bader[/autotag] and [autotag]Johnny Eblen[/autotag] topped the list with $150,000. Legendary MMA fighter [autotag]Fedor Emelianenko[/autotag] and welterweight Sabah Homasi each made $100,000, despite losses.

Scroll below to see what the 28 fighters on Bellator 290 were paid – disclosed amounts only.