Bellator champ: Fedor still has ‘very quick hands’ and is in ‘good shape’

A few weeks ago, it was revealed that Fedor Emelianenko had begun a preliminary training camp in his hometown of Stary Oskol, where he brought in a variety of Russian prospects and veterans to help him get into fighting shape.

Amongst the present heavyweights was Bellator heavyweight champion Vitaly Minakov, who shared his thoughts on the overall experience of training with arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time.

"We had a very good camp in Stary Oskol," Minakov told FightNights.ru. "We had a lot of heavyweight sparring partners. I learned a lot of new things and worked in tandem with Fedor Emelianenko. He gave me some useful tips and showed a few key painful methods in his arsenal such as Kimuras and things like that. I absorbed all this knowledge.

"We also worked on grappling. This is exactly what I needed for the future. Once Fedor shared these moments it immediately began to turn out differently. We spent a lot of time practicing techniques on the ground. It was Emelianenko who showed us a lot of interesting things: Denying the short path, finishing moves from the middle distance. There were a lot of nuances."

Minakov also shared his thoughts on Fedor's preparedness for a comeback.

"Now Fedor is in good shape. Technically he is still very good and has not lost anything in time. He still has very quick hands,  hits very hard, and has good functional status. We are in touch with Fedor, and will interact constantly - it will be a mutually beneficial cooperation."