He may turn 42 this year, but Fedor Emelianenko still packs that legendary power in his fists.
Bellator 198 saw “The Last Emperor” Fedor take on former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in the Bellator MMA Heavyweight Grand-Prix quarterfinals.
The contest only lasted 48 seconds, but an enthralling, back-and-forth contest was contained within that short timespan.
Mir was successful early in taking the fight to Fedor. That initial blitz saw Mir floor Fedor with a right cross, before throwing numerous punches in tight against the cage, roughing Fedor up. But the evergreen, ever-durable Fedor survived Mir’s onslaught.
That early success could have cost Mir. Confident, the American heavyweight was drawn into an ill-advised firefight with the Russian and promptly paid the price.
As Mir proceeded to steam forward with reckless abandon, Fedor clipped him with a short left uppercut which floored him. Referee Mike Beltran stopped the fight as Mir was unable to defend himself from Fedor’s follow-up punches.
That win sees Fedor take on Chael Sonnen in the next round of the Heavyweight Grand-Prix. That fight will certainly grab plenty of headlines in the near future.
Fedor is now 1-1 in Bellator after his loss to Matt Mitrione in 2017, and the Russian is now 6-1 in his last seven fights. Meanwhile, Mir, who hadn’t fought in MMA since 2016 before last night, is now 3-7 from his last 10 outings in the cage.
Elsewhere on the card…
https://twitter.com/FancyCombat/status/990399655526596609
Dillon Danis marked his long-awaited MMA debut with a slick toe hold submission victory over Kyle Walker.
Danis was clipped with a couple of heavy punches before opting to take the contest to the floor where he could work his world-renowned Brazilian jiu-jitsu ground game.
Down on the canvas, Danis, who is arguably better known as Conor McGregor’s gymmate at SBG Ireland, quickly worked for a kneebar before switching to a toe hold to garner a quick tap from Walker.
After his win, Danis promptly took a page out of McGregor’s book, promising to take an ownership stake in Bellator in the near future, taking credit for Bellator 198’s success, and calling out Ben Askren in a whirlwind post-fight press conference as per MMAjunkie.
Bellator 198: Fedor vs. Mir full main card results:
Heavyweight bout: Fedor Emelianenko defeats Frank Mir by KO (punches) at 0:48 of round one.
Featherweight bout: Emmanuel Sanchez defeats Sam Sicillia by submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) at 3:52 of round one.
Middleweight bout: Rafael Lovato Jr. defeats Gerald Harris by submission (Armbar) at 1:11 of round one.
Welterweight bout: Neiman Gracie defeats Javier Torres by submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) at 3:18 of round two.
Catchweight bout: Dillon Danis defeats Kyle Walker by submission (Toe Hold) at 1:38 of round one.
