Fedor Emelianenko loses by TKO in retirement fight at Bellator 290

The final fight for MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko was a losing effort as “The Last Emperor” lost via first round TKO to heavyweight champion Ryan Bader at Saturday’s Bellator 290.

Emelianenko was never really in the fight, getting struck early, bloodied, and knocked down roughly a minute into the fight. Bader put the pressure on, using his ground and pound to continue the attack and eventually end things at 2:30 of the first round after vicious hammer fists.

Saturday’s show from The Forum in Inglewood, California, was on CBS and featured three total fights.

The fight was a rematch of their January 2019 battle that Bader won in just 35 seconds by TKO to take the then-vacant Bellator heavyweight title.

The 46-year-old Emelianenko entered Saturday on a two-fight win streak over three years, picking up knockout/TKO wins over Rampage Jackson (December 2019) and Timothy Johnson (October 2021).

A who’s who of MMA royalty were on hand to honor Emelianenko including Randy Couture, Royce & Renzo Gracie, Chuck Liddell, Josh Barnett, Chael Sonnen, Mark Coleman, Dan Henderson, Matt Hughes, Jackson, and Frank Shamrock.

Emelianenko (40-7-0-1) retired never having fought for the UFC even though there were talks years ago for him to fight Brock Lesnar. Over his near-23 year career, he competed for PRIDE, Strikeforce, Bellator, RINGS, Affliction, BodogFight, M-1 and others. He spent the last six years in Bellator.