Fedor Emelianenko will fight in 2021 regardless in fans are allowed in venues.
Emelianenko is close to ending his legendary career and Coker had wanted the Russian’s final fights to be in packed arenas. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that has not been possible. So, now, no matter what happens with the virus, the Bellator boss makes it clear Emelinaneko will fight next year.
“He calls me all the time and says, ‘When am I going to fight?,’” Coker said. “And problem is, we’d really like him to fight when there’s an audience available. But that can be challenging, too. So we’ll have to make a decision here pretty soon, and trying to get some of the visas for his fighters has been a little bit tough during this transition period. So we’ll wait and see how that all unfolds, and then we’ll make a decision on when he’ll fight. But he’s going to fight in 2021 for sure, no matter what, because he has to fight and he’s got to keep going.”
Fedor Emelianenko is coming off a a first-round TKO win over Rampage Jackson last December in Japan. Before that, he suffered a knockout loss to Ryan Bader in the finals of the heavyweight grand prix.
The 44-year-old only has a handful of fights left and many wanted to see the Fabricio Werdum rematch happen. But, at this point, he is still not signed, so who the Russian will fight next is uncertain.
