GLORY Kickboxing heavyweight Alistair Overeem recently explained that he is not interested in a matchup against Fedor Emelianenko. The Russian fighter recently said he wants one more match in MMA but would like a revenge fight against Ryan Bader in Bellator. The Dutch combat sports athlete recently laid out his retirement plans, saying that he will take one more kickboxing and MMA fight each, but is not interested in Fedor.
Alistair Overeem is Not interested in Fedor Emelianenko Fight
‘The Dutch Demolition Man’ recently sat down in an interview with Tim Wheaton at BeyondKick.com and he answered the question regarding whether he wants to fight Fedor. Overeem said:
“No, no, no. Fedor is what, 47, 48? I have the most respect for him. I think he’s a legend in the sport. I’ve known Fedor since 2000, so that’s twenty-two years. There was a desire to fight him in 2010 in Strikeforce. That didn’t materialize, I don’t know why. And now just I’m beyond that. I wish him all the best. I actually consider him a friend. He’s a good man.”
On his final MMA matchup, Overeem explained what he pictured. He continued:
“There might be another opportunity to do another MMA fight. Because MMA requires a good farewell as well … I don’t know. It’s also dependent on the promotion. The UFC is behind me so it’s not going to be a UFC fight. It will most likely be one of the other promotions. I do have a particular scenario in mind, it would be a big stadium, like fifty-thousand people. So that’ll narrow it down for you; what stadium and where. It’ll be something along those lines that I’ve envisioned for myself.”
All-time heavyweight great ‘The Last Emperor’ Fedor Emelianenko recently said that he wants one more MMA fight before he retires. In a Russian-translated interview, the PRIDE FC Heavyweight Champion explained:
“For me, [Ryan] Bader remains the number one goal for now. They (Bellator) didn’t contact me, no one told me the news, I also learned about it from the Internet, from the media. Whether it is inflated, whether it attracts attention. But for now, I’m preparing for Bader.”
Bellator President Scott Coker also added that Fedor’s final fight will be against Ryan Bader. Speaking on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, the Bellator President said:
“Fedor, he’s got his bullseye on Ryan Bader. He wants to fight Ryan Bader. So Ryan is resting and he wants to fight at the beginning of next year. So we’re going to have a conversation.”
Bader and Fedor originally fought in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix in 2019. ‘Darth’ walked away with a first-round TKO stoppage. Now, the Soviet-born athlete wants revenge. Alistair Overeem and Fedor Emelianenko nearly fought when they were each competing in Strikeforce. Both were involved in the Strikeforce 2011 Heavyweight Grand Prix however, Overeem dropped out of the tournament as he was signed by the UFC.
Both Overeem and Emelianenko have incredible legacies in MMA and are all-time greats. The Dutch Overeem will look to add to his kickboxing legacy and try to take the GLORY Heavyweight World Title from Rico Verhoeven next year. He is just coming off a decision victory against Badr Hari. Overeem added:
“Initially, I was going to fight Rico [Verhoeven] for the title. But he’s doing his own thing, Dancing with the Stars. Badr now, Rico next, don’t know when probably early next year.”
