Fedor Emelianenko signs with Bellator; is Georges St-Pierre next?

One of the greatest heavyweights of all time is coming to Bellator.

During the broadcast of Bellator 165: Chandler vs. Henderson, the MMA promotion announced the signing of Fedor Emelianenko and that “The Last Emperor” will be making his promotional debut at Bellator 172 on Feb. 18 against Matt Mitrione at the SAP Center in San Jose.

“It’s great to be back in business with Fedor,” Bellator MMA president Scott Coker said about the man he worked with during his time at Strikeforce. “The man is a legend both inside and outside of the cage and I’m elated to bring him back stateside for the American MMA fans to witness him fight Matt Mitrione in San Jose. He and I go quite a ways back, and I look forward to continuing to build our partnership here in Bellator MMA.”

Interestingly enough, Fedor will return to the very arena where he suffered defeat at the hands of Fabricio Werdum in a massive upset back in 2010. It was Fedor’s first loss in nearly a decade and the Russian fighter hasn’t quite been the same since. In his last outing, he barely survived against journeyman Fabio Maldonado but ended up being gifted with a controversial decision.

Regardless, the return of Fedor is still a coup for Bellator as they continue to chip away at the UFC’s popularity. Along with Chael Sonnen vs. Tito Ortiz, the promotion is looking to make a significant impact on the MMA world in early 2017.

But what would make that impression even more significant is if the promotion could manage to pull away Georges St-Pierre, who is in the midst of a contact dispute with the UFC.

There was some buzz about GSP, who was in attendance at Bellator 165 and posted a photo of him backstage alongside Coker, Fedor and Rory MacDonald. The image led to speculation that the French-Canadian could be considering joining the growing promotion. MacDonald, who trains with St-Pierre, joined Bellator as a free agent earlier this year despite being one of the top-ranked welterweights in the UFC.

With GSP meeting with the new UFC owners early next year in an effort to hash out a new deal, it is possible that he could return to the promotion. But it’s always wise to keep your options open and this could be exactly what the former champion is doing.