Lack of clear prospects: how long downtime can provoke the departure of Emelianenko and Nemkov from Bellator

In mixed martial arts, most promotions skip the first two or three weeks of the year and begin to hold tournaments regularly only towards the end of January - early February.

Among the largest organizations, the most attention was expectedly attracted by the UFC, which organized three large-scale events at once on the "Fight Island" in Abu Dhabi.

Also, ONE FC, LFA, RIZIN delighted their fans, athletes from ACA, AMC Fight Nights and Brave have already performed in Russia.

In this regard, it is surprising that until now Bellator has not even published the schedule of the next shows.

The situation around the second largest promotion on the planet is rather strange.

The official website is missing any information on future events.

For a month on the main page there is a message stating that the schedule of upcoming battles "will be available soon", and the date of the announcement is called "the beginning of 2021".

But after a month, there were no official announcements from Scott Cocker and the company.

It wouldn't look strange if Bellator regularly missed the start of the year and returned closer to spring.

But over the past five years, in the period from January to February, at least three tournaments have been organized, and in 2019 one show took place in the first month of the year, and four in the second.

The first crowned the final of the Grand Prix in heavyweight, in which Fyodor Emelianenko and Ryan Bader met.

Ex-lightweight title contender Patrick Freire fought in the second, and Sergey Kharitonov with Matt Mitrion fought in the third.

Of course, in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic had a huge impact on promotions and forced many of them to seriously revise the schedule.

The same UFC has long experienced difficulties in organizing tournaments in the United States, and therefore focused on the UAE.

But even Bellator himself resumed the show from the middle of last year and remained active until its end, and now the sudden disappearance into the shadows looks extremely unexpected.

And this despite the fact that now Bellator has almost the strongest roster of fighters in its entire history.

In December, contracts were signed with the stars Anthony Johnson and Yoel Romero, who are planning to act in the light heavyweight division, which, taking into account the presence of Vadim Nemkov, Ryan Bader, Phil Davis and Lyoto Machida, makes the division one of the strongest in the world in terms of competition.

Previously, the promotion was supplemented by promising Usman Nurmagomedov, experienced Rustam Khabilov, ex-ACA champion Dovletjan Yagshimuradov and many others.

Consequently, Cocker has all the necessary resources to host major shows, but for some inexplicable reason they are not being used.

The champ is here!

Who's next for the newly 👑'd light heavyweight champ @VadimNemkov ?!

pic.twitter.com/bGklobMlDb

- BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) January 29, 2021

At the moment, the media reports only about one upcoming Bellator tournament.

As Khabib Nurmagomedov's cousin said in early January, his debut in the organization is scheduled for February 26.

At the same time, it is embarrassing that the opponent has not yet been determined, which may indicate the lack of clear plans among the matchmakers.

Given the fact that most fighters build their training based on the strengths of their opponents, this uncertainty is not encouraging.

Staging a show in the United States is unlikely to pose a serious problem for Bellator, as it is actively done by both the UFC and LFA, as well as many smaller regional promotions.

For example, on January 30 alone, nine mixed martial arts tournaments were held in the United States in different parts of the country - from Florida to Nebraska.

If the downtime is due to the lack of the ability to attract fans to the stands, then this seems strange.

In 2020, Cocker actively conducted the show with empty stands, and under current conditions, the full return of fans may be delayed.

It's worth noting that Bellator’s decision not to rush back into action is already playing a cruel joke on them.

In particular, this applies to Russian fighters, some of whom are already beginning to look for an opportunity to take sides.

The first of these was ex-welterweight champion Andrei Koreshkov, who signed a contract for one fight with Fight Nights.

Due to the fact that his fight in Russia will take place on February 23, it can be assumed that the American matchmakers did not plan to return to the cage in the near future.

And this is taking into account the fact that the last time he fought in October 2019 and was probably on the list of athletes who need to organize a fight in the first place.

But if Koreshkov has three defeats in the last five duels and is unlikely to be included in the elite group of Bellator fighters according to matchmakers, then the same cannot be said about Vadim Nemkov.

In August, Fyodor Emelianenko's pupil knocked out Bader and won the light heavyweight title, but since that moment he has never entered the cage.

Cocker has already announced that Davis will be the next opponent of the Russian, but there are no other details of the duel yet.

It should be assumed that all this is unlikely to suit the Russian champion, for whom the next fight will be the last under the contract with the organization.

In this regard, there is a risk that Nemkov may seriously think about the advisability of signing a new agreement with Bellator.

In an interview with RT, Vadim has already stated that he is putting the Absolute Fighting Championship on a higher level, and in the light of recent events, Dana White's company probably began to look even more profitable.

Unlike one of the main competitors, the UFC regularly hosts shows and allows earning not only star, but also less promoted fighters.

Many of its representatives managed to hold two or more fights in 2020, and the same Kevin Holland even managed to fight five times.

Moreover, he won in each of the fights and repeated the championship record for the number of victories in one calendar year.

Nemkov himself admitted that he was experiencing serious financial difficulties due to the postponement of the fight with Bader, which was originally supposed to take place in May last year.

And it should not be ruled out that his situation is not much better now.

Unlike many other sports, fighters do not receive a monthly salary, and their well-being depends entirely on their performance.

If the situation does not change in the near future, then there is every reason to believe that many Russian fighters will either follow Koreshkov's example and look for part-time jobs at home, or will try to leave the promotion in the near future.

The lack of regular performances can hardly suit any of them, especially when they either own the championship title or are on the verge of winning it.

Here we are talking about Nemkov's partners in the Fedor Team in the person of Anatoly Tokov and Valentin Moldavsky, who are among the main contenders for titles in the middle and heavy weights.

It is worth noting that a year ago, the PFL fighters found themselves in a similar situation, which canceled the planned Grand Prix due to a pandemic.

As a result, the athletes were not able to compete in the American organization, but they also could not leave it, because they were bound by contractual obligations.

League champion Ali Isaev spoke about this in an interview with RT.

As for Bellator, it is worth mentioning separately Fedor Emelianenko, whom the pandemic found during his farewell tour.

The last emperor planned to hold three battles (one each in Japan, Europe or the United States and Russia), but so far he managed to visit only the Land of the Rising Sun.

There, in December 2019, he knocked out Quinton Rampage Jackson, after which he never entered the cage.

And given the fact that Cocker certainly wants to arrange the farewell of the legend in the presence of fans, the process can be delayed.

Fedor himself has repeatedly expressed respect for Cocker and is probably ready to wait until the show is again allowed to fill the stands, but not everything depends on him.

In September, he will turn 45 years old, at this age, injuries begin to appear more and more often, and a long downtime is unlikely to have a positive effect on Emelianenko's physical form.

In this regard, the Russian takes a great risk, delaying the end of his farewell tour.

Perhaps, the Last Emperor should re-negotiate with one of the Russian promotions and organize a loud duel in his homeland without Bellator's help.

In 2016, he already competed in Fight Nights and is probably capable of doing it again.

Especially in light of the fact that the organization has recently found a new sponsor in the person of Amir Muradov and has the necessary funds to arrange a magnificent farewell for the veteran.

A loud fight is quite possible to organize in the ACA league, which has a strong roster and has the ability to attract a star from abroad.

The question is whether this will suit Emelianenko himself.