LOS ANGELES — Respect for Fedor Emelianenko runs so deep in the mixed martial arts community that even a fellow former world champion hesitates to pick against him.
Former UFC lightweight titleholder Benson Henderson will be at Bellator 214 at the Forum in Inglewood, where he’ll corner Henry Corrales in his co-feature bout with Aaron Pico.
Henderson, like so many others, became a fan of the sport during the heyday of the former longtime PRIDE heavyweight champion.
So while none of the fighters asked at Thursday’s Bellator 214 media day came out and picked the 42-year-old Emelianenko to win the Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament finals against an opponent in his prime — Bellator light heavyweight champ Ryan Bader — in Bellator 214’s main event, even a fighter as levelheaded as Bendo paused to give respect for what “The Last Emperor” has accomplished in the sport.