The common consensus for greatest Heavyweight fighter in the history of MMA, Fedor Emelianenko, is due to make his return to the cage at an upcoming Bellator event and it seems like an old foe, Fabricio Werdum, is eager to welcome him back. The promotion made the announcement that Emelianenko was making his comeback after almost two years away from the sport and that he would fight an as-yet unnamed opponent at Bellator 269 on October 23rd.
He’s best known for his incredible run between 2001 and 2009 that saw him go through a stunning 28 fights without a single loss, winning both a RINGS and PRIDE grand prix, and winning and defending both the PRIDE and WAMMA Heavyweight world championship. In fact, the person who put an end to this incredible run was none other than Werdum himself. In 2010 both men were competing for Strikeforce and Werdum shocked the world by locking up a beautiful triangle-armbar at just over a minute into the first round.
Since then, Emelianenko went through a rough patch before returning to Japan to win the RIZIN grand prix and then switching over to Bellator, where he currently holds a 3-2 record primarily against other aging veterans. Werdum had a very different journey in the last decade and despite losing his next fight after the win over Emelianenko, he moved over to the UFC and put together a six-fight winning streak that culminated in his becoming the Heavyweight World Champion by submitting Cain Velasquez.
Werdum then went 4-4 in the UFC as his age began to catch up to him and eventually signed a contract with PFL late last year. He made his promotional debut at PFL 3 and suffered a knockout loss that was later overturned to a no contest after the athletic commission ruled that his opponent Renan Ferreira had actually tapped out without the referee noticing just seconds prior to the KO. Since then he’s had to pull out of his next fight scheduled for PFL 6 as a result of lingering effects from the concussion he suffered in his debut, which effectively wrote him out of the promotion’s Heavyweight season for 2021.
Once word of the fact that Fedor Emelianenko was yet to have an opponent announce for his Bellator 269 fight got around, Fabricio Werdum almost immediately began his social media campaign for the rematch, starting with a relentless series of tweets aimed at both ‘The Last Emperor’ and Bellator CEO Scott Coker:
IF fedor The 🐐 do you need revenge from me HEY I’m ready to go to Russia
— Fabricio Werdum (@FabricioWerdum) July 4, 2021
Fedor was never the goat because I killed the 🐐 @ScottCoker let’s go
— Fabricio Werdum (@FabricioWerdum) July 4, 2021
