Fedor Emelianenko received an offer from the FBI at Bellator 198

Ahead of Bellator 198 in Chicago, The Telegraph of London reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) showed up at the hotel where Fedor Emelianenko was staying. The agents requested to see the legendary fighter and “knocked on his room” before questioning him briefly. Emelianenko, who was scheduled to face Frank Mir in the opening round of the promotion’s Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament, obliged.

While Emelianenko’s manager, Jerry Millen, declined to reveal the conversation that took place between his client and the agents, he explained to the Associated Press that “the FBI came to the hotel looking to talk to Fedor and they were very nice, came in to speak with Fedor for a few minutes, spoke to me, very cool guys, and that’s all I can really say about it.”

Now several months removed from the incident, Emelianenko revealed the details of his conversation with the FBI agents, as well as the offer they made him at the time.

”We returned to the hotel, and the FBI officer was waiting for us. He introduced himself, gave his business card and said that we should go directly to him in the case of force majeure situations,” Emelianenko told RIA Novosti (h/t CrimeRussia). “

A force majeure is a contractual clause that exempts both parties from obligation or liability when an extraordinary event that could not be anticipated takes place. While this does not explain why the FBI reached out to Emelianenko, it does rekindle speculation that it had something to do with the heavyweight’s association with Russian president Vladimir Putin, U.S. president Donald Trump.

With regards to Trump, Fedor’s relationship with the U.S. President was limited to him headlining two Affliction shows before the promotion’s collapse. However, the COO of Affliction at the time was Michael Cohen, Trump’s “Fix-it guy” who had his offices raided by the FBI in April 2018 and was under investigation by the U.S. government.

When asked why the FBI agent would make such an offer, Emelianenko had little to say on the matter.

”I do not know why he offered his assistance.”

To learn more about Fedor’s history with Trump and Putin, read Karim Zidan’s feature on the subject: Fedor, the FBI, and the Fix-it Guy: How Trump’s infamous lawyer, Michael Cohen, got involved in MMA