Bellator MMA’s first event of 2023 was one of its biggest ever, headlined by a rematch between arguably the greatest heavyweight ever, Fedor Emelianenko, in his last match against the promotion’s first champ-champ, Ryan Bader.
Despite being 46, Fedor didn't limp into his retirement bout having looked weak in recent outings. On the contrary, he had won 4 of his last 5, the lone blemish being a knockout defeat in his first meeting with Bader. Meanwhile, he had scored first-round knockouts of Chael Sonnen and former Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Frank Mir and Quinton Jackson.