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Tuesday, Feb 14, 2017

Fedor Emelianenko Outlines Why he Opted For Bellator Rather Than UFC

Fedor Emelianenko (photo via EFN)

By FCF Staff

In advance of his Bellator debut this Saturday against Matt Mitrione, Fedor Emelianenko has outlined why he signed with the Viacom owned promotion, and not the UFC.

For years there’s been discussion and speculation about the possibility of Emelianenko signing with the world’s biggest MMA promotion. Last year, the Russian legend reported that he was in talks with the UFC once again. Ultimately, however, Emelianenko signed a multifight deal with Bellator.

The former PRIDE heavyweight champ was a guest on the latest “MMA Hour” this week, and Emelianenko claimed the following, while discussing why talks with the UFC didn’t lead to a deal (quote via MMA Fighting):

“Depending on the point of view, a lot of times you can be very close and sort of go around and around and never get to it,” he said. “There were some things that were not satisfactory for UFC and there were some things that were not satisfactory for me and we never came to an agreement.”

“One of the main reasons was the ability for my team to perform, for my guys to perform,” Emelianenko added. “The other reasons were, we were not exactly on the same terms [with the UFC] as far as the financial conditions and some other things, some other smaller things as well.”

Emelianenko – Mitrione will headline Bellator 172, which will take place at the SAP Center in San Jose,  California.

posted by FCF Staff @ 10:43 am
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