Numerous sources confirm Fedor Emelianenko still not interested in return to MMA

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Over the past few weeks, rumours about a potential Fedor Emelianenko return have run rampant throughout the MMA sphere. Those speculations were later fuelled Bellator CEO Scott Coker, who revealed that he was interested in talking to Fedor about a potential fight in Bellator.

However, it appears his attempt have been in vain, as numerous sources have confirmed to BloodyElbow.com that Fedor is content with his retirement and is adamant about his disinterest in a return to MMA.

Instead, Fedor hopes to take on the role of spokesperson for MMA in Russia. He spends his time traveling to numerous places in the Federation as a representative of the sport.

Emelianenko, who went 34-4 (1) during his illustrious 12-year career, still frequents M-1 Challenge events in Russia, and was most recently seen in Tokyo at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2014. It was there that Coker posted a photo with Fedor on his twitter account – a tweet that went viral on social media this past Wednesday.

Happy New Year from Tokyo! #InokiBomBaYe #IGF2014 pic.twitter.com/ysxVofMm3C

— Scott Coker (@ScottCoker) December 31, 2014

While it appears Bellator’s intention was a potential match-up against Bobby Lashley or Brock Lesnar, if they could secure that signing, it is highly unlikely they will be able to get Fedor back in the cage.

Share this story

About the author

Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.