Fedor Emelianenko's dreams of a fairytale finale to his fighting career were dashed in just two and a half minutes by heavyweight champion Ryan Bader at Bellator 290, but "The Last Emperor" ended the cage smiling after an emotional in-cage retirement in Inglewood, California.
The final official weigh-ins of Fedor Emelianenko's MMA career passed off without a hitch as "The Last Emperor's" last registered weight made his title fight rematch with Ryan Bader official ahead of Bellator 290 in California.
Retiring MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko said he is looking forward to bringing the curtain down on his stellar career, but said he wouldn't be walking away from the sport completely.
Bellator 290 will see the retirement fight of one of the greatest fighters to ever pull on a set of MMA gloves, and Chael Sonnen says Fedor Emelianenko's farewell will be a sad moment for the sport.
Junior Dos Santos may have suffered a heartbreaking injury TKO defeat at Eagle FC 47, but he could still land a dream matchup with Russian fighting legend Fedor Emelianenko.
The Bellator heavyweight title will be re-unified on Saturday night when reigning champion Ryan Bader takes on interim champ Valentin Moldavsky in a champion-versus-champion bout at Bellator 273.
He may be 45 years old and in the middle of his supposed retirement tour, but Fedor Emelianenko is still very much a factor at the sharp end of Bellator's heavyweight division, as the promotion's latest rankings illustrate.
Recap the results from Moscow, Russia as Fedor Emelianenko returned to home soil to knock out American contender Tim Johnson in the main event.
Watch the fighters take to the scale in Moscow ahead of Fedor Emelianenko's heavyweight main event against American Tim Johnson at Bellator 269.
Fedor Emelianenko heads a lineup of Russian stars looking to shine on home soil at Bellator 269 in Moscow.