During the holiday week, Scott Coker, President of Bellator MMA, told MMAFighting.com that they have reached out to Brock Lesnar to show interest in his services. Now, just before the new year, Coker speaks of another great heavyweight the company is interested in bringing in.
His hame is Fedor Emelianenko.
According to a report from Tristen Critchfield of Sherdog, Coker will be in attendance at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2014 in Tokyo on New Year's Eve, and he expects to have discussions with the former PRIDE and WAMMA heavyweight champion. Coker said:
I’ve heard mixed signals. The last time I talked to [his people], they were basically saying he’s retired and he’s working for the government supporting MMA, the growth of MMA in Russia. I’m going to the New Year’s Eve show in Japan, so I’ll be over there and I’ll be talking to him and seeing if there’s any interest.
The Bellator heavyweight ranks are incredibly thin, and with Coker sending out feelers to both Lesnar and Emelianenko it looks clear that the company has eyes on potentially booking the greatest heavyweight fight that never was.
When Lesnar was the UFC champion, the one fight that was always brought up in discussions was a fight between Lesnar and Emelianenko. It was the “It” fight. It was the I Ching of mixed martial arts. However, the two sides could never put pen to paper and put Emelianenko inside the notorious Octagon.
UFC President Dana White spoke in January 2013 during a UFC on Fox 6 media scrum about how close the fight was coming to fruition.
Now it appears Bellator is playing for that fight in 2015.
If you make Lesnar vs. Fedor happen, does the government provide you a genius grant of some kind? #AskCoker
— Jonathan Snowden (@mmaencyclopedia) December 11, 2014
Coker and Emelianenko already have a working relationship. Coker was able to snag the Russian heavyweight for Strikeforce in 2009. The two saw good success with their co-promoted shows—even with Emelianenko coming up on the losing end three consecutive times. Coker has an in with Emelianenko that the UFC never did: a successful and amicable relationship.
Bellator and Viacom are clear in their intentions to compete with the UFC. Signing both Emelianenko and Lesnar would be a massive grab for the company, and it would send a major message to the UFC that it is here to be a force in any and all negotiations moving forward.
At this juncture, it is only speculation. There is no word from Emelianenko's camp to suggest he is ready and willing to return to action. Likewise, there are only rumors that Lesnar is ready to step back in the cage. All of the dominos would have to fall into place for this heavyweight showdown to happen, but Coker and Bellator are starting to eye the matchup.
We are a long way off from anything being signed by any party, but here we are again. Excitement is rebuilding for Lesnar vs. Emelianenko. Only this time, it appears that it is Bellator that seems to be the prospective home for the extravaganza.
