Fedor Emelianenko is set to fight for the last time this weekend.
The MMA legend will square off against Ryan Bader for the Bellator heavyweight title on Saturday night at the Kia Forum in California.
It’s a rematch four years in the making after Bader scored a shock knockout win in just 35 seconds over ‘The Last Emperor’ who has since won back-to-back fights to earn another crack at the champion.
On Wednesday, Bellator president Scott Coker announced that 11 of MMA’s greatest names will be in attendance to watch Emliankenko’s final fight and will honour him after it’s done.
Josh Barnett, Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Renzo Gracie, Royce Gracie, Dan Henderson, Matt Hughes, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Frank Shamrock and Chael Sonnen will all be at Bellator 290 this weekend.
Coker told The MMA Hour: “This happened in an organic manner. We started getting calls from different fighters that wanted to come to the fight and watch Fedor fight.
"So one of the first calls I got was from Randy Couture saying, ‘Hey, I’d like to attend his last fight.’ I said, ‘Great.’ Then Dan Henderson said, ‘Hey, I’d really like to be there.’ Royce Gracie wanted to come, so he’s there. Mark Coleman will be in attendance.
“All these legends of the sport that really are the roots and the foundation of MMA started calling and we said, look, this is a very special occasion.
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“We’re going to have all these O.G.s, legends from the days that really built MMA, why don’t we do something special?
"It’s really the who’s who of MMA from that era. And this is the end of an era, the page is really turning to the next chapter of mixed martial arts.
“Fedor is The Last Emperor and this is his last stand and all these gentlemen will go into the cage as Fedor is probably saying his speech and he’s going to retire and they’re going to stand behind him and when Fedor gets up from putting his gloves down, they’re all going to be there to congratulate him.
“This is a ceremony and a great send-off to the greatest heavyweight of all time.”
A delighted Emlianenko spoke with talkSPORT minutes after Coker revealed a long list of former opponents and MMA legends are set to honour him at Bellator 290.
The 46-year-old said: “I will be really happy to see all of them.
“Many people that I spent time with in the cage and cageside. We used to compete, if not with each other, in the same organisation - legends of our sport!”
Win, lose, or draw on Saturday night, Emlianenko will walk away from MMA as arguably the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time and a prominent name in the never-ending GOAT debate.
At the peak of his powers, the Russian went on an epic 27-fight win streak, became a champion with PRIDE, and beat a whole host of heavyweight icons to earn his legendary reputation.
He'll try to add one more famous win to his record on Saturday night.
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