Pioneer Emelianenko loses MMA swan song

INGLEWOOD, Calif. —

Fedor Emelianenko placed his gloves on the canvas and then cracked a warm smile while nearly a dozen mixed martial arts greats behind him led the crowd in one last ovation.

Although the Last Emperor says his career is over, his fans and fellow fighters won’t forget his greatness any time soon.

Ryan Bader stopped the storied Russian heavyweight halfway through the first round Saturday night with a relentless ground-and-pound finish at Bellator 290.

The 46-year-old Emelianenko says he is ending his 23-year MMA career with this bout, and he ceremonially laid down his gloves after the defeat.

“On the one side, I’m sad I didn’t deliver on the fight as I wanted to,” Emelianenko said through a translator. “But on the other side, I’m so happy that all these fans and all these veteran fighters are here cheering for me.”

The crowd at the Forum was firmly behind the muchloved Russian MMA pioneer, but that adoration didn’t help when Bader defended his heavyweight title by becoming the only fighter ever to beat Emelianenko twice.

After staggering Emelianenko with an early uppercut, Bader knocked down Emelianenko with a punch that connected with the back of his head one minute into the opening round. Bader quickly pounced on Emelianenko and never let him up, steadily hammering his guard with dozens of punches until referee Herb Dean stopped the punishment 2:30 into the round.

“It was bittersweet,” Bader said. “I idolized him like every MMA fan and fighter coming up. He put the sport on his back. That is a legend right there.”

Emelianenko couldn’t hide his pleasure when he was joined in the cage by a large contingent of fellow MMA greats: Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Dan Henderson, Renzo Gracie, Frank Shamrock and former opponents Mark Coleman, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Chael Sonnen.