Fedor-focused 'Countdown to Bellator 172: The G.O.A.T' debuts tonight on Spike

Bellator is debuting a special “Countdown” special ahead of Saturday’s Bellator 172.

“Countdown to Bellator 172: The G.O.A.T” is a half-hour special that debuts tonight at Spike at midnight ET/PT, and it focuses on headliner and MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko.

Bellator 172 takes place at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., and the main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

In the main event, Emelianenko (36-4 MMA, 0-0 BMMA), a former PRIDE and Strikeforce fighter, makes his Bellator debut and meets fellow headliner and former UFC fighter Matt Mitrione (11-5 MMA, 2-0 BMMA).

According to Spike, the “Countdown” special includes a sit-down interview with the reclusive 40-year-old Russian fighter. Notables such as Randy Couture, Royce Gracie, “King Mo” Lawal, Stitch Duran and “Big” John McCarthy were also interviewed about Emelianenko for the feature.

“Countdown” isn’t the only specialty programming for the event; officials recently released a humorous video that looks at Emelianenko’s famed sweater (via Twitter):

The full Bellator 172 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Spike, 9 p.m. ET)

• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Matt Mitrione
• Patricky Freire vs. Josh Thomson
• Cheick Kongo vs. Oli Thompson
• Veta Areteaga vs. Brooke Mayo
• Mauricio Alonso vs. Josh Koscheck

PRELIMINARY CARD (MMAjunkie, 7 p.m. ET)

• David Douglas vs. James Terry
• Cesar Gonzalez vs. Nikko Jackson
• Juan Cardenas vs. Luis Vargas
• Carlos Eduardo Rocha vs. Danasabe Mohammed
• Anthony Do vs. Bobby Escalante
• Jeremy Murphy vs. Matthew Ramirez
• J.J. Okanovich vs. Paradise Vaovasa
• Roque Reyes vs. Justin Tenedora
• Francisco France vs. Anatoly Tokov

For more on Bellator 172, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.