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MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko took home a flat six-figure fee of $100,000 for his retirement fight at Bellator 290. Emelianenko's opponent Ryan Bader received a flat fee of $150,000 for his efforts.
After a long and illustrious career spanning across three decades, Emelianenko bid farewell to MMA as he competed in his final professional bout on February 4.
In his last outing, 'The Last Emperor' took on Bader for the Bellator heavyweight title at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California. The fight was a short-lived affair as Bader knocked out the MMA legend in the opening minutes of the fight.
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After the fight, Emelianenko took off his gloves and bid farewell to the sport as a fighter. Several prominent MMA athletes like Royce Gracie, Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell, Chael Sonnen, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, and Josh Barnett attended the event to witness the Russian's last fight and pay their respects to the MMA legend.
Emelianenko's retirement does not mean that he has completely walked away from the sport. The 46-year-old plans to stick around to help his teammates with their training. 'The Last Emperor' iterated the same during the Bellator 290 pre-fight press conference:
"Of course, I’ll be involved still because I have my team. These guys are like family to me. I will try to do my best and help them in any way I can. All my life I was in sport. The sport is part of my life. The sport is in my blood."
Did Fedor Emelianenko compete in the UFC?
Despite being a huge name in the MMA world, Fedor Emelianenko never stepped foot inside the UFC octagon. And it wasn't for lack of trying.
UFC Dana White tried to sign 'The Last Emperor' so that he could pit the Russian against Brock Lesnar but due to contractual disputes, the fight and Emelianenko's signing never became a reality.
The 46-year-old does not seem to have any regrets about not competing in the multi-billion dollar organization.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Emelianenko said that not competing in the UFC did not bother him:
"If it wwas supposed to happenn, it would have happened... I fought many UFC champions, and you know, and I was beating them all, so it doesn't really bother me that I didn't fight there."
