Fedor Emelianenko Breaks Down Plans To Prepare For Ryan Bader
Fedor Emelianenko breaks down how he plans to prepare for his next fight under the Bellator banner when he meets light heavyweight champion Ryan Bader.
Process
The MMA Legend scored a first round TKO win over Chael Sonnen n the main event of Bellator 208 on Saturday night (October 13, 2018) at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York on the Paramount Network.
This served as a semifinal bout of the Bellator heavyweight tournament and now he will advance. He is set to meet Bader in the finals of the tournament in January 2019 where the winner of this fight will become the heavyweight champion.
Fedor Emelianenko Breaks Down
Emelianenko stated to the media after this bout that he had completely focused on this fight and didn’t watch Ryan Bader’s decision win over Matt Mitrione the night before at Bellator 207.
“We take into consideration the specialities and the features of all the opponents we meet,” Emelianenko told reporters, including MMAjunkie. “We’re preparing for this fight, and we’re taking into considerations the very strong sides of Chael.”
Preparation
When it comes to preparation, Fedor has the same gameplan in mind but knows they will have to focus on the ground game.
“The same will happen, actually, for the preparation for the fight for Bader. Me and my team will make the next conclusions. Certainly there will be a lot of attention given to all the work on the ground, on the canvas.”
Title
Despite what other people may think, Fedor brought up not thinking about winning the heavyweight title just yet and what it would mean for his legacy.
“First of all, I’m not the champion of Bellator,” Emelianenko said. “First of all, you have to fight and you have to earn it, and we’ll have to get together and discuss that if we win.”
Retirement?
He also addressed potentially walking away from the sport should he win the heavyweight title. However, at this time, that is not a thought that he has at this time.
“Everything depends on how I’m feeling, how my health is,” Emelianenko said. “I will be able to answer this question after the fight.”
