Fedor Emelianenko Signs With Bellator, To Fight Matt Mitrione Next Year

Bellator MMA announced during the live broadcast of Bellator 165 on Saturday night that MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko has signed a multi-fight deal with the promotion and he will fight Matt Mitrione at Bellator 172.

Emelianenko was last seen in an MMA cage in June at EFFN 50 by winning a controversial majority decision over Fabio Maldonado. Emelianenko (36-4) is currently riding a five fight winning streak. Mitrione is 3-2 in his last five bouts and last competed at Bellator 158 by beating Oil Thompson by second round TKO.

The fight announcement is game-changing for Bellator MMA, which has made waves this year by signing names like Rory MacDonald and Benson Henderson. It’d also be the biggest bout of Mitrione’s career, to say the least, He has won all of his fights in Bellator, and if he can beat Fedor, then he should get a title shot. Bellator MMA currently doesn’t have a heavyweight champion, and there is talk of the promotion doing a tournament to crown a new champion next year.

The event takes place on February 18th, 2017 at the SAP Center in San Jose, California. The event will air live on Spike TV. No other bouts at the event have been announced as of this writing.