"He's the Genghis Khan of MMA" - Bellator's Scott Coker regrets how Ukraine invasion nixed Fedor Emelianenko's massive homecoming

Bellator president Scott Coker has blamed both COVID-19 and the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia as the main factors that have prevented Fedor Emelianenko from having the final fight of his MMA career.

The 46-year-old veteran has had a vast career that has seen him compete in Pride, Strikerforce, and finally Bellator where he still hopes to take one last walk to the cage in front of his fans. Many consider Emelianenko one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time. 'The Last Emperor' remains one of Dana White's few regrets in regards to signing UFC talent, with the UFC president never managing to get a deal over the line with the dominant Russian.

In a recent interview with 'The Schmo', Scott Coker stated that Bellator is still actively looking to give Fedor Emelianenko the final send-off he deserves. The Bellator president even revealed that they had a date for an event in Russia booked but were forced to cancel it:

"A lot of complications as you know. The world is a little bit crazy right now. First there was the COVID situation and then the war broke out. To be honest with you, we had a date booked in Red Square for July 11. We were talking to the government and promoter and then they invaded Ukraine in March and that threw everything away... I had this image of him returning home... He's the Genghis Khan of MMA and then come back home, but it didn't work out."

Catch Coker's full interview with 'The Schmo' below:

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Scott Coker confirms Bellator interest in Nate Diaz

Scott Coker recently confirmed that he and his team are planning to approach Nate Diaz over the possibility of signing the free agent.

Diaz recently made his final walk to the octagon at UFC 279 where he main-evented the card against another veteran in Tony Ferguson. The Stockton fighter was originally meant to face Khamzat Chimaev, but the last-minute reshuffle of the card meant he instead locked horns with 'El Cucuy'. Diaz won the fight with a submission in the fourth round and bowed out of the UFC as one of its biggest stars.

Following the Bellator 285 event, Coker revealed that he's planning on approaching the 37-year-old Diaz and explained that he will speak to him after the exclusive negotiation period of his contract ends:

"Well here's the thing. My guys reached out to the [Diaz] management and their manager came back and said, 'Look, he still has an exclusive negotiation period.' And so, let's see how that plays out."

Catch the Bellator 285 post-event press conference with Scott Coker here: