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#2. No.3-ranked Bellator heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko
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Fedor Emelianenko is expected to conclude his legendary career this year when he competes in Bellator for the final time. He and Ryan Bader fought in the finals of the heavyweight Grand Prix in 2019. The fight didn’t last very long as Bader defeated Emelianenko via TKO in 36 seconds to win the vacant heavyweight championship.
Many consider him to be the greatest heavyweight in MMA history and he could prove it one more time. Scott Coker has mentioned in the past that he’d be open to Emelianenko challenging Bader in his retirement fight.
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‘The Last Emperor’ has been on a retirement tour of sorts since re-signing with the promotion in 2019. He fought ‘Rampage’ Jackson in Tokyo, Japan, where he finished the former UFC light heavyweight champion in the first round. His most recent bout took place in Moscow, Russia, which saw him earn a highlight-reel knockout over Tim Johnson.
#1. No.2-ranked Bellator heavyweight Linton Vassell
No.2-ranked Bellator heavyweight Linton Vassell has experienced a great deal of success returning to the division in 2019. Aside from his unanimous decision loss to Valentin Moldavsky, he has distanced himself from the rest of the heavyweight contenders.
Vassell is currently riding a 4-fight winning streak and is 4-1 since returning to the division. The winning streak has been filled with plenty of excitement. His streak includes TKO wins over Sergei Kharitonov, Ronny Markes, and Tim Johnson and a split decision win over Tyrell Fortune.
‘Big Swarm’ is the most logical opponent for Bader at the moment, especially with the challenger’s success at heavyweight. Their first encounter took place at light heavyweight, when ‘Darth’ was the reigning light heavyweight champion. Vassell was coming into the fight having won three straight bouts, but was unable to dethrone Bader.
‘Darth’ finished ‘Big Swarm’ with strikes in the second round to earn a TKO win and earned his first successful title defense. A rematch between the two would be intriguing at this stage of their careers and with Vassell’s improvements at heavyweight.
