Fedor Emelianenko gets retirement fight wish, rematches Ryan Bader for title at Bellator 290

In his final fight, Fedor Emelianenko will get his long-desired rematch.

Emelianenko (40-6 MMA, 4-2 UFC) is set to rematch heavyweight champion Ryan Bader (30-7 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) in the Bellator 290 main event on Feb. 4 at Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif., promotion officials verified to MMA Junkie following an initial report from CBSSports.com.

The event is scheduled to air on CBS, a first for the Bellator brand.

Heavyweight champion Bader needed just 35 seconds to knock Emelianenko out when they first fought in the grand prix final in January 2019. However, the legendary former PRIDE champion has since rebounded with back-to-back first-round knockouts of Quinton Jackson and Timothy Johnson.

Beating Emelianenko helped Bader reach dual-champion status. Although Bader would go onto lose his light heavyweight title to Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 244, he managed to defend his heavyweight title twice against Valentin Moldavsky and Cheick Kongo.

Now Emelianenko will attempt to close his legendary career with gold around his waist while avenging an important career loss.

The latest Bellator 290 lineup includes:

• Ryan Bader vs. Fedor Emelianenko – for heavyweight title
• Vadim Nemkov/Corey Anderson winner vs. Yoel Romero – for light heavyweight title