"GOAT No. 1 vs. GOAT No. 2" - Scott Coker reveals he offered Anderson Silva an MMA fight against Fedor Emelianenko but 'The Spider' turned down

Bellator chief Scott Coker recently claimed that Anderson Silva turned down an MMA fight against Fedor Emelianenko. According to Coker, 'The Spider' was focusing precisely on his boxing career when the offer was made to him.

While the Bellator chief dropped the idea for the time being, he doesn't mind revisiting it. Coker believes fans would love to see Silva vs. Emelianenko as it is essentially the "GOAT No.1 vs. GOAT No. 2" fight. The 59-year-old said in an interview with Ariel Helwani:

"We did offer him [Silva] an MMA fight against Fedor. We didn't even get serious or talk numbers or anything like that. But there was definitely a outreach on our part to see of there's any interest. You know, at that time he really wanted to focus on his boxing and see how far he could take it.

And you know what, I could say, we could do it in Japan or we could do it in New York City, in Madison Square Garden. Let's do it big, let's make it huge. Cause this is the fight that everybody would love to see. And you're right, GOAT number 1 vs. GOAT number 2."

Coker wants to make the fight happen on a big stage in Japan or at the Mecca of combat sports, the MSG, in New York City. However, the Bellator chief acknowledged that negotiating weight classes could be an issue, considering Anderson Silva primarily fought at middleweight while 'The Last Emperor' is a heavyweight.

Watch the clip below:

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Anderson Silva wants to fight his last MMA bout in Japan

Silva is scheduled to fight Jake Paul in a boxing match on October 29. This will be his third professional boxing match since his UFC retirement in 2020.

However, 'The Spider' recently hinted that he might not be done with MMA after all. According to the former UFC middleweight champ, he has already talked to Japan about staging his last MMA bout there.

Anderson Silva believes it would show his respect for the country where he started his combat sports career and earned his first accolades. 'The Spider' said during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour:

"When I did my last fight in the UFC, I talked to Japan about doing my last fight there because it completely makes sense... My first title belt, I took in Japan, in Shooto. Maybe I fight in Japan, my last fight, to prove my respect for the people in Japan, for my fans in Japan too. We’ll see, I don’t know.”

Watch Anderson Silva discuss it in the second slide below: