"Work in progress" - Khabib Nurmagomedov and Ali Abdelaziz meet Scott Coker, possibly to discuss Junior dos Santos vs. Fedor Emelianenko

It looks like Khabib Nurmagomedov’s plan to co-promote a bout between Bellator’s Fedor Emelianenko and Eagle FC’s Junior dos Santos has been put into motion.

The fighter-turned-promoter and his manager Ali Abdelaziz recently met with Scott Coker. The Bellator president is a longtime advocate of co-promotion in the MMA industry. His promotion has collaborated with various other organizations such as Glory Kickboxing and RIZIN.

'The Eagle' shared a picture of their meeting on his Instagram with the caption:

"Work in progress"

The idea of Fedor Emelianenko taking on a UFC heavyweight title holder has been done before. However, all parties will have to move quickly now that the Russian legend is considering calling time on his career.

The question is, who will be his final opponent and where will the fight take place? Coker was ready to have Emelianenko fight in his home country, but the plans have changed due to the current political situation in Eastern Europe.

Khabib Nurmagomedov has proposed to have Emelianenko take on Junior dos Santos at a joint show, which could lead to Bellator and Eagle FC working together. He has even suggested Saudi Arabia as a possible location.

Only time will tell if this plan will become a reality, considering there’s always the possibility that Bellator will pick someone else to fight the Russian great.

Furthermore, the chances of the bout happening soon depended on Junior dos Santos beating Yorgan De Castro in the Eagle FC 47 headliner. However, the Brazilian lost after injuring his shoulder during the fight.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov picks Fedor Emelianenko as the greatest fighter of all time

The idea pitched by Nurmagomedov comes from a deep appreciation for the legendary Russian fighter. The former UFC lightweight champion went as far as to call Fedor Emelianenko the greatest fighter of all time. It comes as big praise from someone who’s undefeated himself.

During the pre-fight Eagle FC 47 press conference, Khabib Nurmagomedov said:

“Why not, because these two was longtime face of MMA. Fedor was the greatest fighter of all time in my opinion. And dos Santos was heavyweight champion couple of years in UFC. These two guys, they deserve, and fans deserve, and I think for me it's a very interesting matchup too."

Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov talk about Fedor Emelianenko vs. Junior dos Santos in the video below:

Fedor Emelianenko became a legend of the sport on the back of his dominant run as PRIDE heavyweight champion. After nine years of competing in the now-defunct Asian MMA organization, 'The Last Emperor' had a 31-1 MMA record. This led many members of the MMA community to dub him not only the greatest heavyweight in history, but the greatest fighter of all time.

In his last outing, he defeated Tim Johnson via first-round knockout at Bellator 269 in October 2021.