Video: Fedor discusses return to MMA, ongoing negotiations and favourite Russian fighters

Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Although Fedor Emelianenko seemingly remains a free agent, he was dressed in a blazer fielding questions from pundits during Bellator’s media day ahead of the Dynamite show.

Speculation regarding his potential signing to either the UFC or Bellator may hav run rampant over the past few weeks, but the ‘Last Emperor’ had little to add with regards to ongoing negotiations. He informed MMAFighting.com’s Luke Thomas that the announcement could be made anytime in the next three weeks, which contradicts the fighter’s previous claim that the announcement would be made this weekend.

Fedor, who tried his best to carry the conversation in English, also offered his thoughts on his return to MMA and his favourite Russian fighter to watch.

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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.