Farewell tour of Emelianenko, the return of Minakov and the fight of Nurmagomedov's brother: what is interesting about the Bellator tournament in Moscow

Emelianenko's battle with Johnson

It is no secret that it was the former PRIDE champion that was largely responsible for the holding of the first ever Bellator tournament in Russia. Rumors about his organization began to circulate after the signing of a contract between the promotion and the legendary domestic fighter in 2016, and finally materialized at the end of June 2021. Moreover, the name of the opponent of the Last Emperor for a long time remained a secret, and many famous athletes were named among potential candidates for a meeting with him, including former UFC stars Junior Dos Santos and Alistair Overeem. However, in the end, Timothy Johnson received the right to share the octagon with Fedor Emelianenko - not the most popular athlete, whose main milestone in his career is the fight for the interim title. True, he failed to win the trophy, and the abuser was the pupil of his future rival, Valentin Moldavsky.

In this regard, Johnson's choice as Emelianenko's opponent raises many questions. On the one hand, the 36-year-old American does not have the stellar status and regalia necessary to attract the attention of an extremely wide audience to the fight. On the other hand, he is in excellent shape and poses a serious danger to the Russian. This is confirmed by the second place in the Bellator heavyweight ranking and three victories in four battles (two ahead of schedule).

Therefore, there is no doubt that Johnson may well ruin the impression of the potentially last fight in Emelianenko's career for domestic fans. Yes, according to the contract, he has two more fights left in Bellator. However, Fedor personally said that Scott Cocker may well release him from his obligations to the promotion, if he so wishes. True, there are great doubts that the Last Emperor himself is disposed in this way.

“My family is waiting for this (leaving the sport. -

), even really looking forward to it.

People should understand that I have made certain commitments, and they were also made by Bellator President Scott Cocker.

He said he would like to take me and my team.

There were various discussions, including with the UFC and Rizin.

After Rizin, the big question was where to go and what to do.

And Scott said he was ready, that he wanted me and my guys to fight.

I agreed.

After that Scott invited me to participate in the Grand Prix.

And the last wish is a fight that will take place in Moscow.

I want to fight myself, but I have to fulfill my obligations to Bellator.

We made such a contract with understanding so that I could finish at any moment.

But if the Lord gives strength, then we will carry out the battle after the battle ", - quotes Emelianenko TASS.

Minakov's first fight in 26 months

The long-awaited return to the cage of Vitaly Minakov will take place in the second most important fight of the evening. The ex-Bellator champion last fought in August 2019. Then he knocked out Johnson and rehabilitated himself for an offensive defeat from Cheyka Kongo, but he was not destined to build on the success. First, problems with a visa, and then a pandemic, provoked a long idle time and excluded him from the number of applicants for the belt.

And there are big doubts that winning the Moscow show will immediately return him to the list of trophy seekers.

If initially he was supposed to fight with the fourth number of the rating Tyrell Fortune, now his opponent is Said Souma, who is on the eighth line.

At the moment, the 28-year-old American is more likely to be classified as a talented prospect, rather than the top of the division.

In Bellator, he fought only twice, and took the upper hand only once - in July he knocked out Ronnie Marquez.

In addition, Minakov himself does not exclude that he may end his career in the near future.

In June, he admitted that he would hang up his gloves if he couldn't get a US visa.

And apparently, no progress has yet been made on this issue.

Therefore, the duel with Souma may well be the last for the 36-year-old native of Bryansk.

“In this case (absence of a visa. -

) professional career is over.

Where to perform?

At Russian tournaments?

No!

At Bellator tournaments in Europe it is possible, but these tournaments are held once a year.

Keeping fit is impossible for one tournament a year.

In order to be in shape, you need a constant training process and constant practice.

If you don't speak for a long time, you lose confidence, ”Minakov admitted in an interview with the media.

The third fight of Nurmagomedov Jr.

Usman Nurmagomedov expressed a desire to fight in Moscow during the Bellator 263 tournament, in which he knocked out Manny Muro.

And the matchmakers satisfied his desire.

In the capital, the cousin of the former UFC lightweight champion will have his third fight under the auspices of the promotion.

And so far there is no reason to doubt that at the end the judge will raise his hand again.

The opponent of the Russian will be Patrick Pietila, whose track record includes 11 victories and eight defeats.

Over the past two years, Nurmagomedov has met only once with an athlete who has a lower percentage of victories than that of a little-known Finn (57.8%).

We are talking about Jerry Kvarnstrom, who won 51.7% of the time (15-14).

Then it took Usman just over two and a half minutes to finish the fight ahead of schedule.

And this time it may well end even faster.

In addition to Nurmagomedov Jr., another representative of the Eagles MMA team will also perform on the show.

In July, Haji Rabadanov won his debut battle at Bellator with a spectacular knockout, and in October he can strengthen his position in the promotion.

To do this, he needs to cope with compatriot Alexander Belykh in the only purely Russian confrontation in the Moscow tournament.

Initially, there should have been two of them, but the battle between Andrei Koreshkov and Rustam Khabilov was canceled.

Return of Tokov and Sidelnikov

In the capital, not only representatives of the Khabib team will perform, but also a number of Fedor's students. Of course, the most anticipated will be the return of Anatoly Tokov. In October 2019, he extended his unbeaten streak to five fights, but after that he never fought, as a result of which he lost his place in the ten strongest middleweights in the organization. However, a victory over ex-ACA fighter Sharaf Davlatmurodov will certainly not only return him to the honorary list, but also again allow him to be considered as one of the main contenders for the belt.

His younger brother will also fight in the capital. Vladimir Tokov successfully started his career overseas and was stronger in the first two fights, but in the third he unexpectedly lost by split decision. He will try to rehabilitate for this failure in a duel with Aimar Gui. The 33-year-old Frenchman alternates triumphs with failures (15-12-1), so it can be considered a feasible test for a Russian.

Kirill Sidelnikov also got a passing opponent, returning to the cage after a two-year break. Once he was considered the heir to Fedor Emelianenko, but he failed to correspond to this status. By the age of 33, he has 12 victories and six defeats in his track record, and five of them were early. Rab Truesdale will try to upset him for the seventh time, but there are practically no prerequisites for this. The Scotsman not only has an even more modest record (10-7-1), but also has not fought in serious organizations.

Nikita Mikhailov will also perform in Moscow.

At home, he achieved success in both the bantamweight and featherweight, and in April 2019 he surpassed Muhammad Eminov, the reigning AMC Fight Nights champion in the 65.8 kg division.

True, after that he withdrew from two fights in a row, and then left the promotion altogether for the sake of performances in the United States.

Until now, it has not been possible to debut at Bellator - the same pandemic and visa problems are to blame, but in less than a week he can correct this misunderstanding.

The only question is whether he will be able to start with a victory.

Experienced Irishman Brian Moore, who has not lost since November 2018, will be waiting for him in the opposite corner of the cage.