Decorated MMA warrior Fedor Emelianenko is going to try this Bellator debut thing all over again. Of course, you’ll have to pay for it this time. So, uh, yay?
The Russian titan was originally slated to have his first fight for UFC’s rival in February on the Cops treehouse that is Spike, but that debut was canceled just hours before the bout was scheduled to go down. The New York Post reports that Fedor’s contest versus Matt Mitrione has now been ushered to the co-main slot at the company’s June 24th pay-per-view at Madison Square Garden. Chael Sonnen versus Wanderlei Silva has also been booked at the top of the card.
Fedor popping up at the NYC show adds some extra oomph to Bellator’s attempt to be establish itself as a PPV player. The diminishing returns of the once great Pride champion aren’t likely to be much of a hinderance when it comes to the curiosity factor attached to Fedor. Bellator’s never been shy about pushing marquee (or at least recognizable) names as the hook to come watch and the UFC’s now happily embracing money fights as a matchmaking compass too. The question is now whether or not toploading a card with twilight era fighters can be a hit for Bellator on PPV and if it’s worth the cost of betting on big results inside the expensive confines of Madison Square Garden.
(Via New York Post & Bloody Elbow)
