Bellator will pull out the biggest Russian fighter of all-time, Fedor Emelianenko, Saturday.
Fedor takes on Tim Johnson in the main event of Bellator 269. The card airs live on Showtime from Moscow, Russia and the VTB Arena.
Hailing from Belgorod Oblast, Russia, the 45-year-old Emelianenko is widely regarded as the greatest heavyweight in mixed martial arts history. Sporting first-round knockouts in three of his last four Bellator contests, the former PRIDE heavyweight champion has shown no signs of winding down a celebrated career.
In his most recent fight against Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in 2019, Emelianenko once again proved that age is just a number when he dismantled the former UFC champion at 2:44 of the opening round.
Fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev., Johnson has defeated three of his last four opponents, including two by opening-round knockout. Prior to his interim title loss to Valentin Moldavsky, the Minnesota-born southpaw tore his way through the 265-pound division with victories over Cheick Kongo and Tyrell Fortune. The 36-year-old Johnson hopes to continue his ascent toward a heavyweight world title as he challenges an MMA icon fighting in front of his Russian compatriots for the first time in five years.
BELLATOR MMA 269: FEDOR VS. JOHNSON MAIN CARD:
SHOWTIME (U.S.) | OKKO (RUS) | BBC iPlayer (U.K.) | Virgin Media Sport (IRELAND)
Saturday, Oct. 23 – 10 p.m. MSK / 8 p.m. BST / 3 p.m. ET
Heavyweight Main Event: Fedor Emelianenko (39-6, 1 NC) vs. No. 2 Tim Johnson (15-7)
Heavyweight Co-Main Event: Vitaly Minakov (22-1) vs. No. 8 Said Sowma (7-2)
160-Pound Contract Weight Bout: No. 6 Usman Nurmagomedov (13-0) vs. Patrik Pietila (11-8)
Middleweight Bout: Anatoly Tokov (29-2) vs. Sharaf Davlatmurodov (18-3-1)
PRELIMINARY CARD
BELLATOR MMA YouTube channel | SHOWTIME Sports YouTube channel | Pluto TV (US)
OKKO (RUS) | BBC iPlayer (UK) | Virgin Media Sport (IRELAND)
7 p.m. MSK / 5 p.m. BST / 12 p.m. ET
Heavyweight Bout: Kirill Sidelnikov (12-6) vs. Rab Truesdale (10-7-1)
Lightweight Bout: Vladimir Tokov (6-1) vs. Aymard Guih (15-11-1)
Flyweight Bout: Darina Mazdyuk (4-1) vs. Katarzyna Sadura (4-4)
Flyweight Bout: Irina Alekseeva (3-1) vs. Stephanie Page (5-2)
Bantamweight Bout: Brian Moore (14-7) vs. Nikita Mikhailov (7-1)
Welterweight Bout: Grachik Bozinyan (11-4) vs. Alexey Shurkevich (12-4)
Featherweight Bout: Aiden Lee (9-5) vs. Alexander Osetrov (8-2-1)
Featherweight Bout: Gadzhi Rabadanov (16-4-1) vs. Alexander Belikh (9-4)