Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader commented on his victory over Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko at Bellator 290 on February 5th in Inglewood, USA.
Ryan Bader
The bittersweet feeling of this win is that I idealized Fedor like all MMA fans do. First of all, give him credit, stand up and applaud. I just had to do my job today. I'm glad I got to fight Fedor twice, it's not about beating him, I don't care about that at all, it's about the fact that I got to share the cage with such a legend twice. It's kind of surreal. I'm just happy to be a part of that story.
The first meeting between the fighters took place in January 2019, as part of the Bellator 214 tournament. At that time, Bader won via TKO at the 35th second of the first round. At Bellator 290, the fight ended in the first round. Bader hit Emelianenko several times, causing the Russian to fall. Bader then finished Fedor with ground and pound. Herb Dean stopped the fight and registered a TKO victory for the American.
