Mixed martial arts legend Fedor Emelianenko wound back the clock at Bellator 269 and proved to fans he’s still capable of producing magic at age 45.
Despite being the underdog, Emelianenko earned a first-round knockout win over Tim Johnson thanks to a terrific cross-hook-hook combination that landed on the button.
The Last Emperor scores the KO in Moscow!
What a moment for Fedor, in Bellator’s historic first Russian event.#Bellator269 pic.twitter.com/gZq4pH5bMa— BellatorMMA (@BellatorMMA) October 23, 2021
Emelianenko hadn’t fought since knocking out former UFC light-heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson nearly two full years ago.
“I feel very great. I feel good,” the soft-spoken heavyweight great said following his 40th career professional victory. “Two years passed. I’m happy that everything worked out the way we were thinking. I’m very happy for the fact that we made the audience happy and we delivered such great joy to our fans.”
The event took place at VTB Arena in Moscow in what was Bellator MMA’s first trip to Russia.
The former Pride FC heavyweight champion, who admitted he had some nerves fighting in front of a home crowd for the first time in more than five years, is 4-2 under the Bellator MMA banner and 9-2 overall in his past 11 fights dating back to 2011.
Emelianenko was noncommittal when asked about his future in the sport.
“It’s difficult to say, I think this is one of the most important wins of my career taking into consideration the location, the country, the age,” he explained. “Taking into consideration the force of Tim Johnson, who is a strong opponent. Thank god I’m still in sports and I’m not losing my speed.
“It’s difficult to answer the what if questions. I would like to say that at this moment I’m not planning on finishing my career. I will talk to Scott Coker and my family.”
Emelianenko wasn’t the only Russian MMA royalty in the building either.
Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov was in attendance to watch Emelianenko and support his cousin, Usman, Nurmagomedov, who also fought on the main card.
Below are the complete Bellator 269 results:
MAIN CARD
-- Fedor Emelianenko def. Tim Johnson by KO
-- Said Sowma def. Vitaly Minakov by technical knockout
-- Usman Nurmagomedov def. Patrik Pietila by submission (rear-naked choke)
-- Anatoly Tokov def. Sharaf Davlatmurodov by split decision
PRELIMINARY CARD
-- Kirill Sidelnikov def. Rab Truesdale by TKO
-- Katarzyna Sadura def. Darina Mazdyuk by TKO
-- Irina Alekseeva def. Stephanie Page by unanimous decision
-- Nikita Mikhailov def. Brian Moore by unanimous
-- Alexey Shurkevich def. Grachik Bozinyan by KO
-- Aiden Lee def. Alexander Osetrov by submission (rear-naked choke)
