When Fedor Emelianenko announced that he is coming back to the world of MMA, many fans wondered where he would end up — UFC or Bellator. According to Bellator president Scott Coker, however, the second largest MMA promotion in North America doesn’t appear to be that interested in his services.
Coker spoke with MMAJunkie.com about Fedor announcing his intentions to return to MMA, and explained why Bellator MMA isn’t that worried about securing his services.
“We’ve had conversations, but not about fighting. We had a great time doing the fights together with Fedor (in Strikeforce) … I felt like we’ve done it already with Fedor,” said Coker. “We’ve got a great roster and a great thing going. When he comes back into the market, I feel like he’s going to come back for three or four years. He’s not going to come back for one fight.”
Coker continued, “And he is coming back, but I’m not sure where he’s going. I haven’t asked him. Let him come back and see how it works out for him, and then maybe we’ll have him fight a couple years down the line, or next year, or whatever.”
The Bellator president went on to explain that the promotion is on “roll” right now, and doesn’t necessarily need to concern themselves with the “Fedor sweepstakes.”
“The door is open, but I felt like at this point, Bellator is kind of on a little bit of a roll here,” said Coker. “Would he add a lot of value? Yes. But we’re just going to sit back and see what happens.”
