Fedor Emelianenko, a legendary Russian heavyweight, has officially retired after a disappointing loss in the first round of Saturday’s rematch.
Emelianenko, who was competing for the last time, was knocked down and beaten by reigning heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in the main event of Saturday’s Bellator 290.
The fight was stopped at the 2:30 mark of the opening round by referee Herb Dean. Emelianenko was competing for the last time. The event, which was held at the Kia Forum and broadcast live on CBS, served as Bellator’s first on network television.
Emelianenko tried his best to avoid Bader’s massive right hands from the opening bell on, but Bader’s jab was on perfect and hit its target many times during the fight.
After being dropped with a crisp right hand, Emelianenko was followed to the canvas by Bader, who also fell to his knees.
Emelianenko tried all in his power to bind his adversary’s arms and slow down the pace of the assaults. However, Bader was able to frequently connect heavy blows and hammerfists, which caused Emelianenko to retreat and prompted Dean to stop the fight in the first round. Bader won the bout by unanimous decision.
After the fight’s conclusion, Emelianenko, who has a record of 40-7 in mixed martial arts competition and a 4-3 record in boxing and mixed martial arts bouts, took off his gloves and announced that he will now focus on training the next generation of Russian mixed martial arts superstars.
During this time, Bader (31-7 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) made several post-fight comments in which he acknowledged and respected his opponent.
The following is a list of the results from Bellator 290: Main Card (CBS)
Champ To successfully defend his heavyweight championship, Ryan Bader knocked out Fedor Emelianenko with punches at 2:30 into the first round.
Champ Johnny Eblen successfully defended his middleweight championship by defeating Anatoly Tokov by way of unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)
Related: Melinda Dillon, star of ‘A Christmas Story’ and ‘Close Encounters,’ has died at the age of 83
Brennan Ward defeated Sabah Homasi via technical knockout in round two (1:34) with a high kick and punches.
Card of Initiation (YouTube)
Mukhamed Berkhamov was knocked out in the first round with an elbow from Lorenz Larkin, who went on to win the fight.
Henry Corrales def. Akhmed Magomedov through unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
A tie was called in the Ali Isaev vs. Steve Mowry fight (28-28, 28-28, 28-28)
Max Rohskopf was knocked out in the second round by punches and Chris Gonzalez was victorious.
Grant Neal def. Karl Albrektsson via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Diana Avsaragova def. Alejandra Lara via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Nikita Mikhailov def. Darrion Caldwell via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
