Fedor-“Rampage” Jackson to headline Bellator’s Japan debut

Two fo the most legendary fighters in MMA will be headlining a card in the Land of the Rising Sun one more time. Bellator President Scott Coker announced that Bellator MMA will be heading to Japan for the first time in December.

Teaming up with RIZIN, Bellator will host a card inside the Saitama Super Arena on December 29th. The main attraction of that card will be Fedor Emelianenko v. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. 

Fedor (38-6, 1NC) is coming off of a loss to Ryan Bader in the finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix this past January. Signing a deal to fight in only a few more bouts in Bellator, this may be the 43-year-old’s swan song.

If we are talking about the atmosphere and level of opponent, there may be no better way to go out swinging. Jackson (38-13) is coming off of a TKO-win against Wanderlei Silva back in September 2018. That was the third fight between the two.

Bellator announced this past week that a press conference would be taking place on Wednesday, stating a game-changing announcement would be made. Coker has been teasing a Japan trip for Bellator for quite some time. Talks especially heated up following a series of matches with Kyoji Horiguchi and Darrion Caldwell, in which the former beat Caldwell to become the Bellator Bantamweight Champion. Put everything together, and the end result was a business deal that could bring in a lot of money.

Both Fedor and Jackson have history in Japan, as they were both a part of Pride FC. Fedor is a former (and the last) PRIDE Heavyweight Champion and the winner of the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix for the promotion. While Jackson never won a title there, his claim to fame happened to be the legendary bouts he had with Silva. The two never fought one another there.

Two warriors, both who changed MMA for the better, are set to clash in a historic moment for Bellator. While it may not be a pretty fight, considering the ages of both men, they can still entertain the masses.

As an added bonus, Coker stated it is unknown yet whether they will compete in a ring or a cage.