Russian stars set to take centre stage at Bellator 269

“The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko tops the card as Bellator MMA heads for Moscow, Russia for Bellator 269 on October 23.

The former PRIDE FC heavyweight champion stars in the main event of the evening against No. 2 ranked contender Tim Johnson, with the Russian legend potentially one big win away from a shot at the Bellator heavyweight title and a potential fairytale ending to his stellar career.

In the night’s co-main event, former Bellator heavyweight champion Vitaly Minakov – who never lost his title in the cage – returns to action against No. 8 contender Said Sowma.

Minakov lost the heavyweight title after a contract dispute with the promotion and left for a seven-fight, seven-win run with Russian promotion Fight Nights Global.

He then returned to the Bellator cage and lost a unanimous decision to Cheick Kongo at Bellator 216, but bounced back with a first-round knockout of Johnson at Bellator 225 in August 2019. However, Minakov has been out of action since that victory, and he returns to the cage after an absence of more than two years in a bid to gatecrash the heavyweight title picture once again.

Also set for action on the main card in Moscow is the undefeated lightweight prospect Usman Nurmagomedov, who will look to improve his perfect record to 14-0 with victory over Patrik Pietila, while middleweight contender Anatoly Tokov returns to action against Sharaf Davlatmurodov.