Fedor (left) and Mitrione (right) will face each other in June. (Photo: Disclosure)
After the announcement of the duel between Wanderlei Silva e Chael Sonnen for Bellator 180, the organization confirmed another big clash for the edition that will take place in New York, at the legendary Madison Square Garden, on June 24th. This is the return of Fedor Emelianenko, considered one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, who will make his debut in the organization against Matt Mitrione, a former UFC heavyweight fighter.
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The fight between Fedor and Mitrione should have taken place in February this year, at Bellator 172, but the American fell ill hours before the fight and was unable to perform.
Emelianenko dominated the heavyweight division over the past decade, including a long reign in the now-defunct PRIDE. In the Japanese event, she beat names like Rodrigo Minotauro, Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Coleman, Mark Hunt, between others. Afterwards, he performed in attractions such as Affliction and Strikeforce, where he defeated former UFC champions Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski.
The Russian retired in 2012, but returned to active duty last year. Since then, he has had two fights: he beat Jaideep Singh at Rizin and obtained a controversial victory against Fabio Maldonado in Russia.
Mitrione, 38 years old, fought in the UFC between 2009 and 2016. During this period, he beat names like Kimbo Slice, Gabriel Napao e Derrick Lewis, but ended up defeated against Roy Nelson, Ben Rothwell and Travis Browne. The American signed with Bellator and has already had two fights in the new organization, against Carl Seumanutafa and Oli Thompson, winning both by knockout.
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