The MMA world is holding its breath with news that the legendary Fedor Emelianenko has been hospitalized in Russia after testing positive for COVID-19.
“The Last Emperor” is widely regarded as one of the greatest to ever do it, as the former PRIDE FC heavyweight champion was long considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, long before his fellow countryman Khabib Nurmagomedov burst onto the scene. And at 44 years old, he still has a fight contract with Bellator. The Russian Sambo champion had his first MMA bout back in 2000.
Emelianenko revealed to the world that he was in the hospital on Thursday morning on social media.
“Thank you all who are sincerely worried about my health. I am feeling well now, I am on the mend. I am grateful to the doctors and medical staff for their care and your hard work,” said The Last Emperor on Instagram, translated from Russian.
According to RT Sport, Emelianenko has been admitted to a Moscow hospital which “specializes in treating patients suffering from coronavirus.” His exact condition is currently unknown.
Fedor’s future farewell tour
Emelianenko is said to have two fights left on his contract, and Bellator president Scott Coker was at one point envisioning a farewell tour for him before the pandemic hit, and severely disrupted the fight promotion’s 2020 plans.
I really wanted Fedor to fight his retirement fight, not in front of just the officials and half the staff and be on a closed environment in a bubble, Coker told MMA Junkiein an interview. I really want Fedor to finish his career in front of 30,000 people in Moscow, to be honest – Bellator MMA’s first fight in Russia … do a fight in Moscow. For him, the prodigal son has returned. Fedor is the greatest fighter of all-time, and he’s now coming home to retire and put his gloves up and hang it up to retire.
At the time, Coker was looking forward to 2021, with COVID-19 vaccines coming online that would, hopefully, lead to the roar of a sold-out arena full of fight fans. This would put Fedor’s “farewell tour” back on track. Ironically, it’s now Fedor that’s contracted the novel coronavirus.
I feel we’ve waited so long for Fedor to fight, hoping that the pandemic would thin out, Coker continued in the MMA Junkie interview. And now that it’s getting close and I can see light at the end of the tunnel for the pandemic to go away, I really want to wait and to do these fights in a proper stadium, especially the one we do in Moscow. I want to do something very big for him because to me, it’s like he’s the king, and the king is returning from the battlefield.
A legendary legacy
Emelianenko hasn’t fought since December 2019, and likely had to sit out 2020 because of COVID restrictions surrounding Bellator promotions. His record currently stands at 39-6, 1 NC. Many would argue his first true loss was to Fabricio Werdum, who tapped Fedor in June of 2010 at a Strikeforce event. Losses to Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva and Dan Henderson followed, but Fedor was able to chain five wins together after his losing streak. After signing with Bellator came another loss to Matt Mitrione, followed by victories over Frank Mir and Chael Sonnen in the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Fedor was then handed another setback against Ryan Bader for the Bellator Heavyweight Championship. Bader has since lost the heavyweight title to Russia’s Vadim Nemkov.
In his prime, Fedor was an unprecedented force. “The Last Emperor” went 28 fights without a loss, in a division so unpredictable that only one UFC champion, Stipe Miocic, successfully defended his title three times consecutively. While Fedor’s competition was uneven, his wins included future interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, twice, prior UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman, twice, prior UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman, prior UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, and prior UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. That’s seven wins against fighters who were or went to become UFC heavyweight champ, against no losses, a record that remains without equal.
