Bellator president Scott Coker says he can grant Fedor Emelianenko another heavyweight title bout if he wants it.
Emelianenko and Ryan Bader clashed in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix. “Darth” knocked out Emelianenko in just 35 seconds to become a Bellator “champ-champ” as he already held the light heavyweight gold.
Bader vs. Emelianenko 2 A Possibility
Emelianenko rebounded from the loss by stopping Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the main event of Bellator 237. During the post-fight scrum, Coker told reporters that Emelianenko can get a rematch with Bader if he wants it (h/t BJPenn.com).
“I mean, it’s something that would really be up to him, honestly. Like I said, he’s 3-1 with this organization [Fedor is actually 3-2 under Bellator] and he looked fantastic tonight. So if it’s something he wanted, we can definitely work towards that. But I’m not sure if that is all that important to him. I haven’t really sat down to talk to him. I just said, ‘Look Fedor, you just rest and take care of your family and we’ll be in touch. Let us know what you want to do and we’ll make it happen,’” Coker said.
Coker also said that Josh Barnett is always an option for “The Last Emperor.”
“The guy who keeps knocking on the door is Josh Barnett. He had an unfortunate situation a week ago in Hawaii. He was sick and I’ve been texting with him. He’s been recovering and getting back. He’d like to fight at the end of January but I told him that’s not going to happen because LA is so booked up. But we’ll get Josh in there. If it’s something Fedor wants to do — and I know Barnett would like to do it because he told me he wants to fight Fedor — maybe we can put that fight together,” Coker said.
