‘Even If He Lost, Junior Dos Santos Looked Amazing’- Khabib Nurmagomedov Double Down on Co-Promotion with Bellator MMA’s Scott Coker
Fighter turned MMA promoter Khabib Nurmagomedov opened up to the media after the curtains were drawn on the most recent Eagle FC 47 event. Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos debuted for the promotion and looked to be in tremendous shape in his first outing with the Eagle FC brand.
However, the aging veteran would throw out his shoulder after pushing forward with a right straight and the fight was called a TKO win for his opponent, Yorgan de Castro.
Eagle FC 47 main event ends after Junior dos Santos dislocates his shoulder pic.twitter.com/DMRhp1j84D
— Eagle FC (@EagleFightClub) May 21, 2022
Going into the fight, Khabib Nurmagomedov revealed that he was targeting a scrap between heavyweight legends Junior Dos Santos and Fedor Emelianenko in a cross-promotional affair with Bellator MMA. Surprisingly enough, despite his defeat to de Castro, Khabib Nurmagomedov revealed he was still interested in putting the fight together.
Eagle FC has requested event licenses from the Florida Athletic Commission for the following dates: May 20, June 24, July 29, Aug. 19, and Sept. 23, per state records. All will be in Miami. pic.twitter.com/ymDd45YLoE
— Nolan King (@mma_kings) May 9, 2022
“I think it’s still viable, because even if he lost, Junior looked amazing. Everybody see tonight, he’s improved a lot and he was looking amazing. And I think it’s still interesting. I think for his shoulder, [as an] athlete — because I know when you have an injury, what you need, how many months you need to recover, everything — I think if he makes this next week, surgery, I think definitely he needs surgery.”
Additionally, he doubled down on his intention to iron out the specifics of a cross-promotional venture with Scott Coker. The Bellator MMA President has been open to cross-promotion and has conducted business with RIZIN in the past as well.
It’s highly likely that he’ll come together with the popular undefeated fighter and make it happen.
“I’m not a doctor, but I see a lot of injuries inside the gym like this with shoulders, with knees. I think after three or four months, he can come back to sparring, and at the end of the year we can make this fight. Next week I’m going to sit with Scott Coker and we’re going to discuss about this fight.” [h/t mmafighting.com]
Junior Dos Santos voiced his disdain for the way his UFC tenure ended and will be keen to charter a new course in the sunset years of his career.
