Bellator recently revealed Fedor Emelianenko will fight back in Russia but the opponent was TBD. Immediately, many expected it to be a legends fight but that was not the case.
Despite the fact the likes of Junior dos Santos, Josh Barnett, and Fabricio Werdum among others called for the fight, Emelianenko will face Tim Johnson. It’s not the fight many expected but according to Coker, he says Fedor Emelianenko picked his opponent and he decided on Johnson.
“We started taking these names and Fedor was really thinking about it,” Coker told MMA Junkie on Thursday. “When he came here for the Moldavsky fight, he said to me, ‘If Moldavsky loses, I want to fight Tim Johnson.’ In his mind, I think he already had a focus on somebody that’s ranked – somebody that’s relevant in today’s fighting. Maybe he could’ve got that shot against (Ryan) Bader in that sense, right? He wanted to fight Tim Johnson if he won, but he lost. I think in his mind, he had this fight in his mind.
“He went home and thought about it. We gave him all the names and it was really up to him,” Coker continued. “To me, he deserves to be able to choose who he wants to be able to fight in his last couple of fights. He’s going to retire after he fights this fight and then he’s got one more and he’s going to retire. To me, he’s the greatest heavyweight of all time. He’s accomplished so much (and) done so much for the sport.”
Although it’s not the legend fight many wanted, it still is a top-ranked opponent for Fedor Emelianenko. Many have also said this will be his last fight, but there is a chance he does one more after so perhaps that fight is a legends fight.
