Fedor Emelianenko has a fight booked at Bellator 269 this weekend. The former Pride heavyweight champion is facing Tim Johnson in Moscow.
Emelianenko is not normally known for being outspoken but he was surprisingly forthright in an interview with Russian news agency TASS. The MMA legend had some harsh words for UFC president Dana White,
“Money means everything to him, he has no respect towards fighters, no respect for any human being. Only money and that’s all,” Emelianenko told TASS.
He went as far as to describe White as ‘revolting’,
“There is nothing humane about him and I found that quite revolting. Money, of course, is important for living and for the family. But trading human relations for money is unacceptable.”
Winning streak
Emelianenko faces Tim Johnson at the VTB Arena in Moscow. Possible opponents included Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos but the Russian feels that this was the fight to make,
“Tim Johnson recently had a nice winning streak and that shows that he’s quite a good fighter. This was something that I took into consideration when looking at opponents.”
While he had some unpleasant things to say about White the 45 year old was much more upbeat when discussing his love for MMA,
“MMA is the most joyful job that I could have. I’m never tired of the press events, and actually consider them to be a necessity to the business of combat sports, so I have gotten used to them over the years.”
Friends and family
He is a fan of MMA as well as being a fighter and loves to see his compatriots succeed. He is happy to see Vadim Nemkov dominating Bellator’s light heavyweight division,
“It is great news and very exciting that Vadim Nemkov was able to defend his title and advance to the Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix Finals. On the topic of champions, I hope that before I leave this sport, we will have another world champion.”
There will be some familiar faces on the Bellator 269 card. Emelianenko admits this is a distraction but says he has enough experience to deal with having his friends and training partners compete on the same night,
“When my friends and family are fighting with me on the same card, it’s important that I concentrate on my own fight and not get caught up in the rest. Because I am a professional and have been performing in this sport for a while now, I believe that I am good at simplifying everything when it comes to all of these factors.”
While every Emelianenko fight seems to be billed as his last he was adamant that this would not the last time we see him in the cage. The 45 year old is already talking about his next assignment and picked out Chicago as his venue of choice.
