RIZIN & Bellator Are Teaming up For Year-End Card; Fedor Emelianenko to Fight?

Nothing official has been announced yet, but it looks like we could see Fedor Emelianenko fight on a year-end card, promoted by RIZIN and Bellator.

Image Credit: Bellator / YouTube

Scott Coker’s previous comments

Not long ago, Bellator President Scott Coker relayed that the promotion was interested in promoting an event with RIZIN, in Japan. Recently Coker has also said that they’re hoping to finalize Fedor’s next bout soon, and that they were looking at “Rampage” Jackson or Josh Barnett has possible opponents.

RIZIN’s CEO announced December 29th card

Well, more recently, Rizin FF CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara posted the image and comments below.

View this post on Instagram

Bellator will be coming to Japan to put on a historical event on December 29th! We will host an emergency press conference with Bellator president Scott Coker and Fedor Emelianenko! We hope to be able to deliver exciting news so please make sure to come out and experience the press conference! ーーーーーーー ついに決まりました！BellatorとRIZINが今年の年末にお互いの威信を賭けて全面対抗戦で激突する事が正式決定しました！10/9(水)にBellator代表スコット・コーカー氏とヒョードル選手が緊急来日して共に記者会見に臨みます！皆さんの胸躍る発表が出来ると思いますので、是非楽しみにお待ちください！

A post shared by NOBUYUKI SAKAKIBARA (@nobu_sakakibara) on Oct 7, 2019 at 4:19am PDT

So, connecting the dots here, you would think if Fedor is going to be attending Wednesday’s presser, chances are “The Last Emperor” will be competing at the upcoming card.

The 43-year-old Russian star hasn’t fought since January, when he was taken out by Ryan Bader in the finals of Bellator’s heavyweight grand prix.