Bellator made headlines last week when they announced the winner of the unofficial Fedor Emelianenko opponent lottery. It was a rare opportunity that heavyweights — young and old — from around the sport hoped to get. Yet, when Timothy Johnson was announced as the man to face the Russian sports icon in October in Moscow, there was understandable confusion and head-scratching.

Bellator had a unique opportunity to not only squeeze the last drops of name-value from the mixed martial arts legend but also build for their future in the short and long term. Unfortunately, they likely did neither with this particular booking, and that’s a shame. I am happy for Johnson because he is a good guy and earned a great opportunity, but the fan in me believes the promotion had better options for maybe “The Last Emperor’s” last fight.

Bellator’s big miss at Bellator Moscow

An unwillingness to take a big swing in free agency

https://twitter.com/FabricioWerdum/status/1411499471695847425

Right now, there are some notable heavyweight free agents on the open market. Bellator President Scott Coker even named a couple at the Bellator 261 post-fight press conference. Those being former UFC heavyweight champ and future Hall-of-Famer Junior dos Santos, and one-time Strikeforce champ, and UFC title contender Alistair Overeem. In addition, former UFC heavyweight belt holder Fabricio Werdum made his interest in the fight known as well. Since his current employer in the PFL was reportedly willing to let him take the fight with the rival promotion.

Let’s assume Werdum was out of the running because sharing his talents meant too many contractual strings for Bellator. Even without him, the available options were still pretty good between dos Santos and Overeem. Would they be expensive? No doubt, but they are worth the expense, just as much as Emelianenko is, if not more. Are they the fighters they once were? Of course not, but their recent losses also came against elite heavyweight talent. However, are they still good enough to be highly competitive against Bellator’s roster of heavyweights at 37 and 41, respectively? You can bet your house on it.

Emelianenko versus either man doesn’t guarantee ratings behind a Showtime subscription, but it would have built far more potential for the bout on name value alone. And a win or loss for the 44-year-old would have been a win-win for Bellator. They either send the Russian off with one last big win, squeeze out more juice in another fight, or you get your big free-agent acquisition a headline-making win and flip that into bouts with other fighters on the roster, to help build their relevancy long term. Furthermore, the relevancy options still holds even if dos Santos or Overeem lose, just like it still works for Emelianenko now. Their names are still that valuable in the sport.

Maybe what JDS and ‘Reem wanted was to was too rich for Bellator’s blood, but that’s a disappointing excuse considering the potential those fights had for the promotions present and future.

There were better options already on the roster

If Bellator preferred to be more fiscally responsible, they had pretty good options already on the roster.

There’s Josh Barnett, who despite his well-documented history with performances enhancers, is viewed as a legendary heavyweight of the last 20 years. Plus, that was a fight that never happened, and was always hoped for, as he and Emelianenko traversed the MMA scene outside the UFC for the last two decades.

Before he was eventually jettisoned from the promotion, a rematch with Matt Mitrione would have made sense. A revenge fight in Russia, after the UFC veteran knocked him out in Madison Square Garden in 2017, is a better well than what they went with.

Lastly, for just the circus and buzz element, there was AEW wrestling talent, and for WWE heavyweight champion Jake Hager. At least with that fight you know going in you have a great shot at a final feel-good moment for the Stary Oskol native. But if Hager somehow won, well you have a pretty nice chip to play the value on for the next couple of years.

All three pushed for the fight, and a couple even argued over it, but none of them received it.

An un-Fortune-ate oversight

The promotion also missed out on the chance to finally pull the trigger on making Tyrell Fortune a key building blocking in Bellator’s heavyweight future.

Fortune was one of Bellator’s “fab five” amateur wrestling stars that they signed five years ago. They have put years into developing him and he is now a top-five talent in the division. In addition, he has bounced back from Johnson handing him his lone loss via knockout last year. Now is the time to finally cash in on all that development work. Plus, he is the most cost-effective option while also having the greatest long-term upside at just 31-years-old.

If he beat Emelianenko, he’d have the marquee win needed to then book him in a title fight after. However, if he lost, it’s the same win-win as if Emelianenko beat those aforementioned free agents but with a heck of a lot less money spent.

The limited gain in a Johnson booking

If Emelianenko were to beat Johnson there are some benefits. The MMA legend gets a memorable moment in front of a raucous crowd of Ruskies in his home country, and maybe another big fight comes out of it. Since Johnson is a top name in the division and just competed for interim-heavyweight gold. However, there is hardly any long-term gain for Bellator in that because he is still retiring eventually anyway.

However, if Johnson wins like he’s expected to, it’s hard to imagine the promotion will invest heavily in pushing the 36-year-old veteran. He has had many peaks and valleys over the last six years, including in Bellator. He is also already established in the division. A win over Emelianenko does far less for him than it would for Fortune or Hager. Then there is the unfortunate lack of sizzle his name at the moment would bring into the promotion of the fight. Something Barnett, dos Santos, and Overeem would have.

Overall, a big miss for Bellator.