Den forne UFC-fightern Ryan Bader kan numera titulera sig som dubbelmästare. Han är Bellators lätta-tung- och tungviktsmästare efter att han knockat PRIDE-legendaren Fedor Emelianenko efter 35 sekunder i rond ett. Bader kunde förtälja i intervjuer efter matchen att det var något han hade förutspått.
You know what? I saw that momen. And you can ask my team, we practiced that moment a lot. I saw that punch was going to do it. You can’t see his right hand because he throws from his hip. He’s very hard to see, he throws hard. But in doing so, you leave yourself exposed. And we felt that he was going to respect my wrestling a lot, and I could put one up top.
If you look through any of the footage on the Countdown shows and all of that kind of stuff, we were practicing that punch the whole time. Throwing a jab, getting our distance, and then feinting and throwing that left hook, and we knew he’d be there.
That’s a hard punch right there. He went down, and I saw that over and over again already, so it just kinda played out how we saw it.
Fedor pensionerar sig?
PRIDE-veteranen Fedor Emelianenko är 42 år gammal och har gjort allt på MMA-scenen. Ryssen har haft pensionstankar, dels för skador han dras med och dels för hans ålder. Emelianenko säger till MMAFighting att han älskar att tävla men medger att det kanske är dags att lägga handskarna på hyllan.
To tell the truth, at the age of my age right now, it’s more and more that I’m thinking about retiring. It is not because I don’t want to fight. It’s definitely because of the age, that speaks. And also injuries and all the wars that I had.
Bellators VD Scott Coker står vid ryssens sida vad han än beslutar, men medger att det är svårt att se sina vänner bli knockade.
It’s never easy to see your friends get hit and get knocked out and get hurt. That’s really up to him (if he’ll fight again). That’s really up to Fedor. I think that we had a relationship that lasted for many years, and he fought for me back in Strikeforce.
And Fedor, he doesn’t have to fight again. He’s already done it all. He’s already the greatest heavyweight of all time. He’s had such a great run. But, really, it’s going to be up to him whether he decides to really put it to rest.
To me, he’s the GOAT. And that’s it. It goes back to he’s a guy that’s fought everybody that he was presented with.
Ryssen har ett MMA-facit på 38–6 (1) och har besegrat sina motståndare på följande sätt, 14 genom knockout, 15 genom submission samt 9 vinster genom domslut.
