Bellator champ warns Doubting Thomases: 'Quick' Fedor Emelianenko hasn't lost anything during hiatus

Ring rust?

Pfffft. C'mon son, this is Fedor Emelianenko we're talking about.

The former PRIDE heavyweight champion is expected to make his return to mixed martial arts (MMA) later this year (details). In the process, the "Last Emperor" has been sharing some tricks of the trade with Bellator 265-pound kingpin Vitaly Minakov, who passed along this scouting report to FightNights.ru (via Bloody Elbow):

"We had a very good camp in Stary Oskol. 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. 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."

So much for being an "easy fight."

Emelianenko (34-4, 1 NC) last competed in 2012, stringing together three straight wins before (temporarily) calling it quits. While most combat sports fans would agree the best 265-pounders compete for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the former WAMMA champ is also being courted by Bellator MMA and World Series of Fighting (WSOF), among others.

So, about that new USADA policy...