"That fight's gone now" - Khabib Nurmagomedov's ideal Fedor Emelianenko vs. Junior Dos Santos matchup won't happen, claims Josh Thomson
Josh Thomson has done a fantastic job transitioning from an MMA fighter to an analyst/podcaster. 'The Punk' now gets paid to give his opinion on daily MMA news. The latest subject he has discussed is a rumored fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Junior Dos Santos with Khabib Nurmagomedov's MMA promotion Eagle Fighting Championship.
Last week at the Eagle FC 47 press conference, Nurmagomedov mentioned how he wanted to make Emelianenko vs. Dos Santos after the latter fought Yorgan De Castro on May 20. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned, and now the super-fight is in question.
Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov discuss potentially booking Fedor Emelianenko vs. Junior Dos Santos below:
WAIT WHAT??
@TeamKhabib wants to make @junior_cigano vs Fedor Emelianenko
@BellatorMMA - can we make this happen?
#EagleFC47: Dos Santos vs. De Castro | THIS FRIDAY May 20 | 6P ET | Watch Eagle FC LIVE and FREE. Sign up today at EagleFC.com https://t.co/J6LbnYpF7q
Dos Santos won the first two rounds before suffering a bizarre self-inflicted shoulder injury, giving De Castro the win. Now that 'Cigano' has lost five straight fights dating back to the UFC, Thomson believes the super-fight between the MMA legends will be hard to make.
Watch Junior Dos Santos's bizarre shoulder injury below:
Eagle FC 47 main event ends after Junior dos Santos dislocates his shoulder https://t.co/DMRhp1j84D
During a recent appearance on the Weighing In podcast, 'The Punk' had this to say about Fedor vs. JDS:
"Khabib's back here in San Jose now, and he's supposed to meet with [Scott] Coker this week about Fedor vs. Dos Santos. That fight's gone now. It might not be gone, but it should be gone. There's nothing there."
Regardless of the reasoning, Dos Santos losing five straight fights is hard to market against Emelianenko, who has won four of his last five. Both fighters still have the credentials for a 'super-fight,' but the interest level dropped after Eagle FC 47. Nonetheless, Nurmagomedov's ultimate goal is probably to ensure 'The Last Emperor' fights for Eagle FC before he retires.
Watch Josh Thomson and John McCarthy discuss Fedor Emelianenko vs. Junior Dos Santos:
John McCarthy agrees with Josh Thomson about the future of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Junior Dos Santos
Bellator commentator John McCarthy, who co-hosts Weighing In, described Dos Santos vs. De Castro differently but had the same opinion on the potential super-fight. During the same podcast, 'Big' had this to say about the situation:
"Fedor has gone through how many UFC champions? He's only lost to one... All of them he has fought, he has beaten. So, you can say let's put him against one more UFC champion. I know Junior wants the fight, I'm not sure Fedor wants the fight. He's the guy who can look and say exactly what you're saying. He's coming off how many losses? That's not good."
Despite their differences in reasoning, neither McCarthy nor Thomson sees the fight happening. The real question is, what do Nurmagomedov and Scott Coker think after Eagle FC 47? If there is money to be made, Eagle FC and Bellator could overlook the loss to De Castro and still book Emelianenko vs. Dos Santos in the future.
Watch the full episode of Weighing In with Josh Thomson and John McCarthy below: