The final fight in the career of Fedor Emelianenko continues to be one of the most discussed topics in the world of mixed martial arts.
Initially, the farewell tour of the Last Emperor was supposed to end back in 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic and the difficult geopolitical situation in the world, it “continues” to this day.
Moreover, at the moment it is not known with whom exactly the legendary athlete will share the cage.
So far, there has been talk of possible fights with current Bellator champion Ryan Bader and former UFC title holder Junior dos Santos, and now a real MMA legend has appeared on the list of potential opponents.
According to Bellator President Scott Cocker, some time ago, the promotion contacted former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva for a collaboration.
According to the functionary, he was offered Emelianenko as a rival, but then the negotiations reached an impasse.
The Brazilian announced his intention to focus on his boxing career.
“We offered him a fight with Fedor.
We didn’t even get to a serious discussion, talking about numbers and the like, but there was an attempt on our part to see if there was any interest.
At that time, he really wanted to focus on boxing, see what success he could achieve in it.
And you know what?
I'd say look, we can do it in Japan or in New York at Madison Square Garden.
Let's do it in a big way!
This is a fight that everyone would love to watch.
All-time best number one vs. all-time best number two," Cocker told The Ringer MMA Show.
The head of Bellator agreed that during the negotiations between the parties, certain disagreements could arise, for example, over the weight category.
Silva spent most of his career in the middleweight division and only occasionally moved up to light heavyweight, while Emelianenko fought exclusively in the heavyweight division.
However, Cocker did not put an end to a possible duel.
“I was for starting a dialogue, having a conversation.
The discussion was short, the response was quick, and I just, shall we say, dropped it.
But maybe, as you said, we should return to this, ”added Cocker.
In this situation, the motives of the president of Bellator are quite understandable.
Mindful of the end of Emelianenko's farewell tour, he hopes to create as much excitement around him as possible and hit the jackpot.
Previously, he attempted to arrange a long-awaited fight between Fedor and Brock Lesnar - which the UFC failed more than a decade ago, and is now considering the idea of organizing another "dream fight".
This confrontation would be a real event in the world of MMA and would help the promotion to regain attention.
In addition, such statements by Cocker also indicate that the league is not very interested in a rematch between Emelianenko and Bader, although rumors about him have been circulating over the past months.
In many ways, the reason for their appearance was the Last Emperor himself, who expressed a desire to try his luck again in the title fight before leaving the sport.
And although subsequently information appeared in the media about the organization of a retaliatory battle, it has not yet found confirmation.
There may be several reasons for the reluctance of the promotion to bring Emelianenko and Bader back into the cage.
Firstly, matchmakers may well consider this fight not the most profitable from a commercial point of view.
Yes, in Russia it would certainly have gathered a colossal audience, and it could have been held on Red Square (as Cocker originally planned).
But because of the difficult situation in the world, these prospects were put to rest.
At the same time, in the United States or Japan, this confrontation will certainly not arouse great interest.
In the States, they hardly believe in the success of the Russian (especially after his crushing defeat in January 2019), and in the Land of the Rising Sun they know little about the American.
What can not be said about Silva, who played in PRIDE for two years.
And in general, the figures of Silva and Bader are hardly comparable.
In the UFC, although the American was in the top light heavyweight, he never received the status of the first contender.
And this despite the fact that in his time, 11 different athletes managed to fight for the belt in the category up to 93 kilograms, including middleweights Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort.
Ryan, on the other hand, could not overcome a certain barrier, stumbling either on Liot Machida, or on Glover Teixeira with Anthony Johnson.
Silva is a full-fledged legend of mixed martial arts and one of the greatest fighters, regardless of weight categories.
He holds the UFC record for most consecutive wins (16), as well as early victories and knockouts in title fights (9 and 7, respectively), is second in the frequency of appearances in the main fights of tournaments (17) and third in won battles for the belt. (eleven).
Among former colleagues in the championship, only Jon Jones and Georges St-Pierre with Demetrius Johnson can boast of such an impressive list of achievements.
But the latter rarely appears in the dispute for the title of the greatest due to not the most respectful attitude towards representatives of the lightest division.
But if Anderson is firmly in the top three of the strongest UFC fighters, then Emelianenko often leads the tops of the greatest athletes among those who, for various reasons, did not get to the promotion of Dana White.
And the clash of such rivals could be akin to a dream come true for many fans of mixed martial arts.
Especially when you consider the fact that both are almost guaranteed to put on a real show in a cage.
They are the brightest drummers and recently they practically do not resort to wrestling skills.
The Brazilian has never focused on this aspect, and over the years the Russian has become less and less likely to use his skills on the ground.
The last time this happened was in the battle with Sonnen in October 2018.
And although the advantages of holding a duel are obvious, the probability of its organization is still quite low.
Yes, Silva has already publicly announced his desire to fight in Japan and noted that he was in contact not only with the local Rizin FF, but also with other leagues.
The question is when he will be ready to enter the cage, because at the end of October he will duel with Jake Paul according to the rules of boxing.
And although for now it is the Brazilian who is considered the favorite, he is not immune from a heavy defeat.
Recently, the American managed to beat two well-known representatives of MMA - Ben Askren and Tyrone Woodley (twice), and completed two of the three fights ahead of schedule.
The colossal age difference (22 years) will also speak in his favor, which may well affect the later rounds.
And if Anderson loses by knockout, recovery could take a long time.
While Emelianenko is unlikely to want to wait.
In addition, it is unlikely that Fedor is so interested in returning to Japan.
At the end of 2019, he already said goodbye to the homeland of PRIDE when he crushed Quinton Rampage Jackson, who was in frankly bad form, at Bellator 237, and is unlikely to intend to fight there again.
Although the lack of opportunity to put on a show in Russia may make him change his mind and spend the last fight in the country where he has achieved the greatest success.
But most importantly, will Fedor give up his intention to take revenge on Bader for a heavy defeat in the heavyweight Grand Prix finals in order to defeat the UFC legend.
He's beaten quite a few of his former representatives in recent years, including Sonnen, Rampage and former heavyweight champion Frank Mir, but that hardly answers the question of how successful The Last Emperor could have been in the championship.
As it did not make White change his mind about the level of his skill.
He recently expressed the opinion that in a head-to-head battle, Lesnar would have coped with Emelianenko.
And this is despite the colossal gaps in the striking technique of the wrestling star.
At the same time, there is no doubt that, if desired, Emelianenko can veto the initiative of the matchmakers and refuse to fight Silva.
As far as is known, the Russian took an active part in choosing an opponent for the tournament in Moscow and is unlikely to have lost such privileges.