“The Last Emperor” Fedor Emelianenko got a visit from the FBI before his bout at Bellator 198 last night, and no one besides he and the FBI know why.
“Per policy, we do not comment on investigations we may or may not be conducting without a public record basis upon which to speak,” Special Agent Janine L. Wheeler said in an email to MMA Fighting.
According to Fedor’s manager, Jerry Millen, the FBI came to Fedor’s hotel room looking for him. Despite the mystery surrounding their visit, Millen described the FBI as “very nice, very professional.”
Fedor also confirmed that the FBI treated him well, saying (through a translator), “Everything was great. Everything was OK. Everything was good.”
Jokingly, The Last Emperor also denied rumors that he was a Russian spy.
The FBI had good reason to be on their best behavior around Fedor. Emelianenko is the president of the Russian MMA Union, which has ties to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, who promoted Fedor when The Last Emperor was part of Affliction Entertainment. Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen — best known now as the guy in the middle of the Stormy Daniels cover-up scandal — was also COO of Affliction.
According to MMA Mania (see the link above), some have speculated that Fedor’s links to Trump and Cohen may have been the reason for his visit. Others have stated it could be because of a threat against Emelianenko’s life. Back in 2016, Fedor’s daughter was assaulted by associates of Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov.
Of course, these rumors are backed by nothing but pure speculation and shouldn’t be seriously considered until further evidence surfaces. For all we know, the FBI agents were there simply because they were huge Fedor fans who wanted to give one of MMA’s legends the respect he deserved.
Fedor Emelianenko is coming off of a dominant first-round knockout victory over former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. He is set to face another UFC veteran, “The American Gangster” Chael Sonnen, at a yet-to-be-announced event in the semi-finals of the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix.
You can check out Fedor’s knockout win and other Bellator 198 highlights in the video below:
