Fedor clarifies retirement comments after knocking out Rampage Jackson
(Courtesy of MMAFightingonSBN)
Fedor Emelianenko wasted no time putting a stamp on his final fight in Japan.
Two minutes and 44 seconds into his Bellator Japan headlining fight, he landed a right hand that put fellow Pride FC veteran Quinton "Rampage" Jackson face down on the canvas. The referee quickly moved in to stop the fight.
In his post-fight comments in the ring, it sounded as if Fedor was announcing that his knockout of Rampage would be the final fight of his career.
“Unfortunately and regretfully I want to say that perhaps my career stops here on my win in Japan where I started and I’m finishing my career here. Thank you very much for supporting me over the years. That’s the end of my tour,” he said through a translator.
A little bit later, when he was speaking to reporters in a post-fight scrum backstage, Fedor clarified that he was not ending his career, only that he had fought his final fight on Japanese soil. It was a momentous night for Fedor, as he fought the majority of his career in front of the Japanese fans during lengthy stints with Rings and Pride FC.
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He will, however, continue his "retirement tour," which he intends to last two more bouts if everything goes according to plan.
“I’m doing my tour and these are my final fights. I wanted to do a fight in Japan, I want to do a fight in U.S., and I want to do Russia,” Emelianenko said in his Bellator 237 post-fight scrum. “So Japan, it was my retirement fight in Japan. So I’m not retiring.”
