{"id":117766,"date":"2023-02-02T15:03:12","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T20:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=117766"},"modified":"2023-02-05T13:36:20","modified_gmt":"2023-02-05T18:36:20","slug":"bellator-mma-290-shocking-comments-from-ryan-bader-fedor-emelianenko-breaking-mma-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=117766","title":{"rendered":"Bellator MMA 290: Shocking Comments From Ryan Bader &#038; Fedor Emelianenko &#8211; Breaking MMA News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=117766\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=117766\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-117767 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/thumbnail-1-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/thumbnail-1-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/thumbnail-1.jpg 730w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>BELLATOR Heavyweight World Champion Ryan \u201cDarth\u201d Bader (30-7, 1 NC) and \u201cThe G.O.A.T.\u201d Fedor \u201cThe Last Emperor\u201d Emelianenko (40-6, 1 NC) previewed their anticipated main event showdown ahead of BELLATOR MMA\u2019s landmark CBS Network Television and Paramount+ debut at a press conference Wednesday in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>The historic event takes place at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA this Saturday, Feb. 4 and will air live on CBS and on the Paramount+ streaming service at 9 p.m. ET\/6 p.m. PT.<\/p>\n<p>The BELLATOR 290 main event will see reigning titleholder and No. 6 pound-for-pound athlete Ryan Bader seeking to become the first man to ever defeat the legendary No. 3-ranked Fedor Emelianenko twice in the icon\u2019s final fight of what has been an unrivaled heavyweight combat sports career. In the co-main event, newly crowned BELLATOR Middleweight World Champion Johnny Eblen (12-0) will look to make his first title defense against Anatoly Tokov (31-3). Eblen and Tokov were both also on hand to preview their fight at Wednesday\u2019s press event.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Welterweight fan-favorites Sabah \u201cSleek Sheik\u201d Homasi (17-10) \u2014 the division\u2019s No. 8-ranked contender \u2014 and \u201cIrish\u201d Brennan Ward (16-6) will make history as the first BELLATOR fight to air on CBS and Paramount+ in their must-see main card opener.<\/p>\n<p>The preliminary portion of the card will kick off at 6 p.m. ET\/3 p.m. PT and can be viewed live and free on the BELLATOR MMA YouTube channel and Pluto TV.<\/p>\n<p>Here is what Bader, Emelianenko, Eblen, Tokov and BELLATOR President Scott Coker had to say Wednesday:<\/p>\n<p>Ryan Bader: BELLATOR Heavyweight World Champion<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo, I\u2019m not frustrated that the talk in the buildup to this fight is all about Fedor. He deserves it. He\u2019s a legend in this sport, and I respect that man and what he\u2019s done for the sport. He\u2019s a good human being. Don\u2019t get it wrong. I know walking in there that I\u2019d be doing the same watching Fedor\u2019s last fight; I\u2019d be cheering for him. I like to do that. I like seeing these legends go out on top. We\u2019ve seen a couple of them retire in this last month. Make no mistake, I know people are going to be rooting for him but on the flip side, I have a job to do, and my job is to go out there and spoil that party and do what I came here to do which is retain that belt, win that fight, and move on. There will be respect there no matter what.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are a few things I can take away from our first fight, but it was 35 seconds. There was one punch thrown. You can\u2019t take much. This is a whole new fight. Every fight, I go out there thinking I\u2019m fighting 25 minutes and my opponent is the best he\u2019s ever been. That\u2019s the way to approach a fight. I\u2019m not resting on what happened last fight. I can\u2019t bring that fight into this fight. I picked up a little, like his quickness and everything like that. But it\u2019s a whole new fight, 35 seconds is not much you can take away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing on CBS was a big factor for me taking this fight. I started to think through it a little bit and anytime you\u2019re in a Fedor fight, it\u2019s a huge fight. I\u2019m proud to be part of his legacy and have him be part of mine. I came to this company for opportunity, like the Heavyweight Grand Prix and these kinds of big fights. It\u2019s hard to turn down a Fedor fight. I didn\u2019t necessarily know it\u2019d be his last one right at the beginning, but it\u2019s one of those things where I got more excited about it and when I finally put pen to paper, I was all in. I can\u2019t wait for it to be on CBS. I\u2019ve been waiting for this for a long time, and I\u2019m excited to be back in there with a legend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve fought for a title almost every fight I\u2019ve had in BELLATOR, besides a couple of Grand Prix fights. I walk into that cage the same every single time. That guy wants to go out there and beat you. It doesn\u2019t matter if I beat him and he comes back and wants more revenge. What is that? They\u2019re going to go out there and come at you hard. We\u2019re fighting at the top of the top. We\u2019re fighting for belts, right? There\u2019s nothing more on the line. Every time I step out there, I feel that. So, I just keep my head down and do my job. These storylines don\u2019t affect me at all. We show up on February 4, we throw down, and whatever happens, happens. I can\u2019t take past belts and he can\u2019t take his career into that cage with him. It\u2019s just whoever is better on that night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s been four years since the first fight, but it feels like it was a year-and-a-half ago. You get those d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu feelings but mentally, I\u2019m approaching it the same way. Good for me that it was a happy experience, and I hope to replicate that. But it\u2019s a new fight, and I have to keep my head down. I had a great camp. Just go in there, do my thing, and leave with the belt. That\u2019s the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Fedor Emelianenko: No. 3-Ranked BELLATOR Heavyweight<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only extra motivation for this fight is that I will be very happy to finish it. I can remember all my fights, no matter how fast they were. Some of them ended quickly, some didn\u2019t. The most important and the first one that I remember still is the first fight with Antonio Nogueira for the belt in PRIDE.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really thankful that all these legends and all these guys that I\u2019ve known for years are going to come and support me on Saturday night. I\u2019m really happy about that. I\u2019m going to be very happy to see and talk to my friends who I\u2019ve competed with inside the cage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m surprised myself that I\u2019m still able to fight at this level after all these years. I\u2019ve preserved myself pretty well. And of course, thank you to my team because they support me all the time. I had a pretty good career and a pretty good package of different skills so I tried to preserve those skills until my later age.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want to be remembered by MMA fans as an athlete who gained his popularity and his fanbase based on his skills. Based on his fighting skills, not based on his trash talking or any of that nasty stuff that\u2019s popular right now. That\u2019s how I want to be remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s awesome to see my younger teammates having so much success. All this time, I\u2019ve competed at the highest level, and now there\u2019s a new generation of fighters coming over and winning belts and having good careers. There\u2019s a legacy that I\u2019m leaving behind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I first started my career, I had just switched over from judo competitions to professional fights. It was just the beginning, going to the gym. I had to learn what to do because it was all new to me. I was watching VHS tapes from the last tournaments of MMA. When I watched the champions, I figured out that I was going to be able to compete with them at the highest level. It wasn\u2019t something I couldn\u2019t do; I just had to work hard. I never expected or imagined that I would have the career that I had. I just was trying to fight and be prepared as best as I could and win every fight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am watching MMA stars start to compete in boxing. I have thought about whether I could do that too, but I want to be done completely fighting. But I will still be involved in MMA because I have my team. These guys are like my family and no matter what, I will always be next to them all the time. I\u2019ll try to do my best and help them any way I can. I\u2019ve been in sports all my life, and this sport is part of my life. No matter what I do, I\u2019m going to share my experiences and my knowledge in this sport. This sport is in my blood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Johnny Eblen: BELLATOR Middleweight World Champion<\/p>\n<p>On Anatoly Tokov\u2019s Impressive Record: \u201cThis is just another challenge for me. Another step in the right direction, and it\u2019s the reason I called [Tokov] out in the first place. I knew about his record. I knew he was 7-0 in BELLATOR, and I know he\u2019s really good. So, I want to take him out and put on a show in front of all the fans and those tuning in on CBS.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a wonderful opportunity. The fact that I\u2019m a part of this card on CBS, fighting on the same card as the legend Fedor and Bader\u2026 this is a big card. A lot of eyes are going to be watching, and I\u2019m excited to put on a performance and have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Fighting Alongside Teammate Sabah Homasi: \u201cThis is really cool because me and Sabah like to fight on the same card a lot. Fight week is always fun. We\u2019re just hanging out, having a blast making jokes. It\u2019s always awesome to be on the same card as a teammate, especially on a main card like this. His fight [with Brennan Ward] is going to be a banger right before mine. I can\u2019t wait to see Sabah get a knockout and then [have him] watch me do my thing after him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Anatoly Tokov: No. 3- Ranked BELLATOR Middleweight<\/p>\n<p>On His 7-0 Run in BELLATOR Leading to a Title Shot: \u201cYes, it\u2019s about time that I got to fight for the title.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Fighting Alongside Mentor Fedor Emelianenko: \u201cI\u2019m very happy that I have the opportunity to fight on the same card as Fedor because he\u2019s pretty much family to me. I\u2019m very happy to have this opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scott Coker: BELLATOR President<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen I think about this fight and what it means, and the historical significance of this event, it\u2019s really a special moment for myself to see Fedor finish out his career. He fought on PRIDE and with different organizations before we started working together, but since 2009 we\u2019ve done ten fights together. To see his career over all those years \u2014 and I just recently went back and watched him fighting Mirko [Filipovi\u0107] and Kevin Randleman and [Ant\u00f4nio] Nogueira and Andrei Arlovski \u2014 the ten-year undefeated run where he was fighting the baddest people on the planet\u2026 it\u2019s very impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRyan has been on a tear. He\u2019s been doing great things in the heavyweight division to be the two-belt champ at one time and win our tournament. This is going to be a rematch that we\u2019re really looking forward to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis event is monumental. It just shows and reinforces all the hard work we\u2019ve put in for the last five or six years. This is the best fight roster we\u2019ve ever had. The deepest fight roster; the most talented. I\u2019m really proud of our bantamweight tournament which is ongoing right now. We just announced our lightweight tournament, which I believe is going to be an unbelievable tournament with AJ [McKee] and Usman [Nurmagomedov] and [Patricky] Pitbull. There\u2019s a lot of talent in there. So, if you look at this company, from top to bottom, the roster is really healthy. These guys can compete against anybody in any league. I believe we have some of the best fighters on the planet. We went to RIZIN, and we had a great outing there in December. It\u2019s just one victory after another, and I think it starts with the roster and it took four or five years to build that roster. Now that it\u2019s here, we\u2019re able to put on these great fights and this is going to be another great fight on Saturday night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe went through about four or five different names and presented them to Fedor, and he kept saying, \u2018I want to fight Ryan Bader. I want to fight for the title and go out and see if I can still fight at this level and test the best in the world.\u2019 So, he kept bringing Ryan Bader\u2019s name back up. That\u2019s what the catalyst was, and eventually we made the fight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe could have done this fight anywhere in the world, but we knew that we had an opportunity to be on CBS and I just felt that this was the right fit. We\u2019ve been at the LA Forum before and done very well there. To be in a major television market and media market like Los Angeles just seemed to make a lot of sense.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you talk about heavyweights, Fedor\u2019s body of work has been amazing. Pound-for-pound or in the legacy of what he\u2019s done, I haven\u2019t seen anybody out there who\u2019s done more. That\u2019s just how I feel. You\u2019re talking about a fighter that\u2019s still explosive, that\u2019s still fast, that\u2019s still dangerous. He\u2019s proven that in his last several fights to get to this point where he deserves this shot. Is there somebody else who has done more in this sport? I\u2019m not sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>BELLATOR 290:\u202fBADER VS.\u202fFEDOR 2\u202fMAIN CARD:<\/p>\n<p>CBS and Paramount +<br \/>\nSaturday, Feb. 4, 2023 \u2014 9 p.m. ET\/6 p.m. PT<\/p>\n<p>Heavyweight World Title Main Event:\u202f#C-Ryan Bader (30-7, 1 NC) vs.\u202f#3-Fedor Emelianenko (40-6, 1 NC)<\/p>\n<p>Middleweight World Title Co-Main Event:\u202f#C-Johnny Eblen (12-0) vs. Anatoly Tokov (31-3)<\/p>\n<p>Welterweight Bout: #8-Sabah Homasi (17-10) vs. Brennan Ward (16-6)<\/p>\n<p>BELLATOR 290:\u202fBADER VS.\u202fFEDOR 2\u202fPRELIMINARY CARD:<\/p>\n<p>BELLATOR MMA YouTube Channel | Pluto TV<br \/>\n6 p.m. ET\/3 p.m. PT<\/p>\n<p>Welterweight Bout: #7-Neiman Gracie (11-4) vs. Dante Schiro (9-4)<\/p>\n<p>Welterweight Bout: #8-Lorenz Larkin (24-7, 2 NC) vs. Mukhamed Berkhamov (15-1, 1 NC)<\/p>\n<p>Featherweight Bout: Henry Corrales (20-6) vs. Akhmed Magomedov (9-0, 1 NC)<\/p>\n<p>Heavyweight Bout: #5-Steve Mowry (10-0, 1 NC) vs. Ali Isaev (9-0)<\/p>\n<p>Lightweight Bout: Chris Gonzalez (7-2) vs. Max Rohskopf (7-1)<\/p>\n<p>Light Heavyweight Bout: #6-Grant Neal (7-1) vs. #T9-Karl Albrektsson (13-4)<\/p>\n<p>Flyweight Bout: Alejandra Lara (9-6) vs. Diana Avsaragova (5-0)<\/p>\n<p>Bantamweight Bout: Darrion Caldwell (14-6) vs. Nikita Mikhailov (9-2)<\/p>\n<p>Bantamweight Bout: Jaylon Bates (6-0) vs. Jornel Lugo (8-1)<\/p>\n<p>Featherweight Bout: Isaiah Hokit (2-1) vs. Peter Ishiguro (2-1)<\/p>\n<p>Welterweight Bout: Ethan Hughes (3-0) vs. Yusuf Karakaya (1-0)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #808000;\"><a style=\"color: #808000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.authorhouse.com\/en\/bookstore\/bookdetails\/232300-BOXING-INTERVIEWS-OF-A-LIFETIME\">Click Here to Order Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime By &#8220;Bad&#8221; Brad Berkwitt<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Mike Rinder Sits With &quot;Bad&quot; Brad Berkwitt:  &quot;The Conversation Scientology  Didn&#039;t Want You To Hear&quot;\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/XLZBaqPgctA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; BELLATOR Heavyweight World Champion Ryan \u201cDarth\u201d Bader (30-7, 1 NC) and \u201cThe G.O.A.T.\u201d Fedor \u201cThe Last Emperor\u201d Emelianenko (40-6, 1 NC) previewed their anticipated main event showdown ahead of BELLATOR MMA\u2019s landmark CBS Network Television and Paramount+ debut at a press conference Wednesday in Los Angeles. The historic event takes place at the Kia [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10374],"tags":[30361],"class_list":["post-117766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mma-2","tag-bellator-mma-290-shocking-comments-from-ryan-bader-fedor-emelianenko-breaking-mma-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117766"}],"version-history":[{"count":-2,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117766\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/117767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}