While many have written off Fedor Emelianenko as a shell of his once-dominant self, Frank Mir about to go there.

So when Mir found out he’d be fighting Emelianenko in the opening round of the Bellator MMA World Grand Prix to crown a heavyweight champion, he had one immediate thought.

“Damn, that’s a tough first fight,” Mir told MMAjunkie.

Ex-UFC champion Mir (18-11 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) and former Pride champ Emelianenko (36-5 MMA, 0-1 BMMA) square off in the tournament’s third quarterfinal April 28 at All State Arena in Rosemont, Ill. The bout will headline a yet-to-be-named event set to air on Paramount following prelims on MMAjunkie.

For Mir, it will be his first fight in more than two years and mark his Bellator debut following his release from the UFC. As for Emelianenko, it’s a chance to get back on track after his Bellator debut nearly ended in a double knockout.

There’s little doubt the matchup features two fighters well past their primes. Mir, 38, has lost six of eight dating back to May 2012. The 41-year-old Emelianenko, meanwhile, is 5-4 in his last nine, which includes three-straight losses in now-defunct Strikeforce and a knockout to Matt Mitrione last June at Bellator NYC.

None of that changes Mir’s assessment.

“No joke, Fedor is still a phenomenal fighter,” he said. “I know a lot of people don’t have the eyes that I have, and they look at him and go, ‘Well, look at his results.’ And that’s easy to say in our sport, you know. … Fedor is extremely good. He’s still very quick. He hasn’t lost his power in his punches. Even when he threw the punch against Mitrione, Mitrione fell down. Mitrione is a big guy.

“I think the difference I try to explain to everybody, (people will say) ‘Well, he used to be unbeatable.’ Yeah, that’s not because he’s gotten worse. Everybody has gotten better.”

Even though Mir still views the matchup as dangerous, he fully expects to defeat Emelianenko. Mir, who holds the UFC heavyweight record with eight submissions, points to Emelianenko’s lack of experience against high-level grapplers and mixed results when he has.

Emelianenko avoided being submitted twice against Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in 2004. But six years later, Emelianenko was submitted by Fabricio Werdum in just 69 seconds via armbar for his first loss in 28 fights.

The way Mir sees it, Emelianenko should be on high alert with his limbs.

“I still have almost twice as many submissions as (Werdum) does,” Mir said. “When it comes to taking a limb, I’m still the king.”

To hear more from Mir, watch the video above.

And for more on Bellator 197, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.