“I am fighter.” -Fedor on why is he returning.
Scott Coker promised a big announcement on Spike TV during Bellator Dynamite 1 and he delivered. The long awaited and rumored return of Fedor to Japan, the country where his legend grew while fighting for Pride FC. There is also the return of Nobuyuki Sakakibara, the man who started Pride FC.
Right now we have no idea who Fedor is fighting but we now know it will happen on New Year’s Eve and it will be free on Spike TV. We will also be tuning in.
Look for the card to be stacked as this will be Bellator’s and Spike TV’s best opportunity to attract fight fans to their product with their cross promotion with Sakakibara’s new promotion.
Since Pride FC was absorbed by the UFC many fans have been waiting for a new promotion to fill the void. Dream and One FC have been able to capture the Japanese audiences, but have not attracted the international ones like Pride FC during their run.
Bellator under Coker, has come the closest to recreating the some of the spectacle and excitement of Pride FC. Adding Pride FC’s founder in Sakakibara and their biggest star in Fedor will only reinforce those connections for fans.
If Bellator can capture some of the magic of the best of Pride FC, it would be a welcomed addition to the MMA world. Names like Fedor will help. If he can still fight then they could build something off with him. Many fighters will want to come to Bellator just for the opportunity to fight the legendary Fedor.
The addition of Fedor and more former UFC fighters like the Light Heavyweight tournament winner Phil Davis will turn Bellator into one of the more exciting fight promotions.
Unlike Tito Ortiz who is clearly on the backside of his career, a fighter like Davis is still in his prime and was still a top UFC fighter in a shallow division. If a few more fighters from the UFC choose to leave when their contracts are up and go to Bellator, they could actually start to make a dent in the UFC’s empire.
Fedor returns on New Year’s Eve
Right now Bellator has one of the biggest attractions and draws in the MMA world not named Ronda Rousey or Conor McGregor in Fedor fighting on one of their cards.
You could easily see any Heavyweight near the end of their UFC contract eyeing Bellator and Sakakibara’s new promotion right now. If you are a fighter and a heavyweight, of course you would want to fight Fedor. And right now if you want to do that you will have to do it in Bellator.
Many have dreamed about Fedor in the UFC and it looks like that may never happen, but we did see Bellator take another step in embracing the comparison to Pride FC.
Whether they can actually consistently put on exciting shows like Pride FC is yet to be seen. What we do know is that they are willing to be creative and try to fill that void.
Thanks to Fight Pass and our memories, Pride will never die and now thanks to Scott Coker, Bellator, Nobuyuki Sakakibara and Spike TV we just might be witnessing a reincarnation of them.
Main Photo:
