Fedor Emelianenko

The pressure wasn't just on Ryan Bader to win Saturday – it was on him to win, and do it memorably against MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko.

For the retirement fight of Fedor Emelianenko, one of the greatest ever to compete in mixed martial arts and the icon of an era gone by, there was a who's ...

"On one side, I am sad that I didn't deliver on the fight, as I wanted to," Emelianenko said in Russian through an interpreter. As Emelianenko was being interviewed, Bellator brought into the cage some of the biggest names in MMA history: Tokov (31-3) saw a seven-fight winning streak come to an end. Emelianenko (40-7, 1 NC) was a dominant figure in the formative years of MMA, going unbeaten through 28 fights from 2001 until 2010. Emelianenko took note of their presence and smiled, shaking hands with all of them. Less than a minute in, Bader dropped him with an overhand right, and that began a bludgeoning that left Emelianenko facedown on the canvas, bloody and helpless, until referee In some ways, the fight played out even uglier than their first meeting in 2019, when Bader knocked out Emelianenko in 35 seconds. [Johnny Eblen](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/4697390/johnny-eblen) successfully defended his middleweight title in the co-main event, remaining undefeated with a gritty domination of [Anatoly Tokov](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/3094512/anatoly-tokov), a 32-year-old Russian who is coached by Emelianenko. So I'm very happy." [Royce Gracie](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2335697/royce-gracie), [Chuck Liddell](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2335464/chuck-liddell), [Randy Couture](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2335338/randy-couture), [Mark Coleman](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2335515/mark-coleman), [Frank Shamrock](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2431343/frank-shamrock), [Dan Henderson](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2335497/dan-henderson), [Matt Hughes](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/4425995/matt-hughes), [Josh Barnett](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2354241/josh-barnett), [Renzo Gracie](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2354119/renzo-gracie), [Rampage Jackson](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2335470/quinton-jackson) and [Chael Sonnen](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2335796/chael-sonnen). [Ryan Bader](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2335530/ryan-bader) for the Bellator heavyweight championship in the main event at Kia Forum, was stopped via TKO in the first round of a bout in which he was dominated. [Fedor Emelianenko](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2335714/fedor-emelianenko), one of the greatest ever to compete in mixed martial arts and the icon of an era gone by, there was a who's who of MMA legends gathered at Bellator 290 in Inglewood, California, on Saturday night to give one of their own a proper send-off.

Ryan Bader beat Fedor Emelianenko for the second time in the retirement fight for 'The Last Emperor' at the Kia Forum in California.

Eblen eventually took Tokov back to the ground, where he kept him for the remainder of the round, barring a late suplex from Eblen that got a huge reaction from the crowd. Tokov broke away with half of the round to work, but the momentum was entirely on the side of Eblen, who got back to work with a series of leg kicks. Much like the previous round, Tokov did a fine job of defending himself but was largely unable to create separation, and Eblen repeatedly brought Tokov back to the ground whenever he picked himself up. Somehow, Isaev made it to the end of the round, but he was in desperate need of a finish going into the final round. By the start of the second round, Homasi looked exhausted, and Ward quickly dropped him, where he just continued to pour on the attack before dropping Homasi for a second time with a head kick and finishing the fight. Mowry began the second round with a takedown of his own, and he was able to take Isaev’s back in the round’s opening minute. Homasi had Ward in trouble early, but Ward was able to weather the storm, and as the fight progressed, he began to fire back, eventually overwhelming Homasi towards the end of the first round. This was a tough round to score, as Mowry was the more active fighter from his back despite Isaev’s top position, and in the end, I thought that difference in activity likely gave Mowry the edge in the round. Avsaragova was a step ahead of Lara throughout the first half of the fight, but Lara eventually opted to just start marching forward, and that pressure led to a great deal of success throughout the second half of the bout. Mikhailov attempted to turn into top position, but Caldwell was wise to it, and Caldwell was able to remain in a dominant position, working from the guard of Mikhailov. Caldwell was able to control Mikhailov on the ground throughout the vast majority of the first two rounds but was doing very little damage, and Mikhailov was actually able to out-strike Caldwell from his back. Caldwell immediately took Mikhailov back to the ground to begin the second round, where he chased after a rear naked choke from the back of Mikhailov.

Heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko fell short in his final MMA fight at Bellator 290 but earned the praise of many around the sport.

His career included dominant runs in Pride and Strikeforce, defeating some of the top names to ever compete. Bader retained the heavyweight belt after defending it against Valentin Moldavsky and Cheick Kongo in his last two fights. A slew of legends around the sport, including Chuck Liddell and Mark Coleman, was in attendance for Emelianenko’s retirement fight.

Although Fedor Emelianenko, nicknamed the Last Emperor says his career is over, his fans and fellow fighters won't forget his greatness any time soon.

He had been on a run (of four wins in his previous five fights), and with everything he’s done for the sport, I felt like he deserved it.” The bout turned out to be the mismatch that many feared, with Bader thoroughly dominating in his third title defense. Emelianenko famously refused to fight for the UFC, eschewing the world’s most powerful MMA company to maintain his independence, both promotionally and financially. We’ve almost the same age, and we’ve been to the heights. “But on the other side, I’m so happy that all these fans and all these veteran fighters are here cheering for me.” Bader quickly pounced on Emelianenko and never let him up, steadily hammering his guard with dozens of punches until referee Herb Dean stopped the punishment 2:30 into the round.

The pressure wasn't just on Ryan Bader to win Saturday – it was on him to win, and do it memorably against MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko.

But I had a job to do, and that’s what I did.” I think that was his first heavyweight fight when he fought Moldavsky. Maybe he found a way to deal with that heavyweight body. I think that’s the biggest part of it was the pressure of you’re supposed to go in there and beat him soundly. When it ended, I went up and talked to Fedor a little bit. “It’s the pressure that gets put on you because you’re supposed to win.

When it comes to combat sports, legends rarely get a happy ending. That was again the case in the Bellator 290 headliner, when Ryan Bader defeated Fedor ...

“I was telling him when he left, I said, ‘It’s such an honor for me to promote you.’ Not just because of how he fights and his popularity, but really how he carries himself,” Coker said. “Would I have liked to see him and Randy [Couture] fight? He doesn’t need to prove himself. Coker was able to promote the Russian’s fights across two different organizations, and over the years he forged a respect for the legendary heavyweight. He doesn’t need to do anything,” Coker said. It was great to have them come and support me.”