1. Alexander Emelianenko is a three-time Russian national Combat Sambo champion and three-time world Combat Sambo champion in the absolute division.
47 Facts About Alexander Emelianenko
1. 2.
Alexander Emelianenko is the third child in the family and has an older sister, Marina, an older brother, Fedor, and a younger brother, Ivan.
3.
When he was a teenager, while his brother Fedor was in the Russian Army, his parents separated and, since then, Alexander Emelianenko has had a strained relationship with his father, with whom he rarely speaks.
4.
At first, Alexander Emelianenko only observed the older kids, but soon he started mimicking their movements.
5.
Alexander Emelianenko started his formal Sambo training when he joined elementary school, training with Vladimir Mihailovich Voronov.
6.
Alexander Emelianenko would go on to practice Judo, Wrestling, and Boxing, and he participated in other sports like Basketball and Football.
7.
At 16 years old, when he was in training school, his mother forbade him from training boxing but Alexander Emelianenko kept doing it in secret.
8.
Also at 16 years old, Alexander Emelianenko became a Russian Master of Sport in judo.
9.
One of the youngest fighters to debut in Pride Fighting Championships at 22 years old, on 5 October 2003 at the event Pride Bushido 1, Alexander Emelianenko made his professional mixed martial arts debut against Brazilian Assuerio Silva, defeating Silva by split decision.
10.
At PRIDE Bushido 3 on 23 May 2004, Alexander Emelianenko defeated Australian Matt Foki via rear naked choke in the first round.
11.
On 9 October 2004, Alexander Emelianenko rebounded with a victory over Brazilian Carlos "Carlao" Barreto by decision at M-1 MFC Middleweight GP, the first time that Alexander Emelianenko fought outside Japan.
12.
Alexander Emelianenko has commented that he broke one of his hands while punching Morais.
13.
At Pride Shockwave 2005 on 31 December 2005, Alexander Emelianenko submitted 1996 gold medalist judoka Pawel Nastula with a rear naked choke in the first round.
14.
Alexander Emelianenko dominated the entire fight well on his way to a decision victory moving on to the next round off the tournament.
15.
Alexander Emelianenko used his brutal striking exchanges during the first round and broke Barnett's nose.
16.
On 14 April 2007 at Bodog Fight Series II: Clash of the Nations, Alexander Emelianenko fought in Russia, knocking out American Eric Pele with punches in the first round, the first time that Pele was knocked out in his career.
17.
Alexander Emelianenko defeated Gibbs with a kimura submission in the first round at M-1 Mix Fight Championship: Russia vs Europe on 21 July 2007.
18.
Alexander Emelianenko was signed to make his United States debut at Affliction: Banned on 19 July 2008.
19.
Alexander Emelianenko denied the rumors of testing positive for hepatitis B, commenting that he was unable to compete because he was late for his medical exam, having arrived two days after the scheduled date due to visa issues.
20.
Alexander Emelianenko was expected to appear at an upcoming Affliction event on 11 October 2008 but was removed from the plan due to still having licensing problems in August 2008.
21.
Alexander Emelianenko left Red Devil Sport Club on 3 March 2009.
22.
Alexander Emelianenko founded his own training team, AE Team, which he started to present in his fight against Bengtsson.
23.
Alexander Emelianenko faced Magomed Malikov at M-1 Challenge XXVIII on 12 November 2011, in Astrakhan, Russia.
24.
Alexander Emelianenko fought Tadas Rimkevicius at M-1 Challenge 31 in St Petersburg, Russia.
25.
Alexander Emelianenko won the fight via TKO at 1:52 of round 2.
26.
Alexander Emelianenko announced his retirement from MMA competition through an open letter to his fans on 18 December 2012, citing a chronic injury and a lack of time for his family as contributing factors in his decision.
27.
About three months after announcing his retirement, Alexander Emelianenko announced that he is making a comeback into MMA with ProFC.
28.
Alexander Emelianenko had his first fight on 27 September 2017, as part of the WFCA 42 tournament against Brazilian Geronimo dos Santos.
29.
Alexander Emelianenko knocked out his opponent as early as 36 seconds of the first round.
30.
In both fights, Alexander Emelianenko managed to knock out his opponents in the second round.
31.
On 15 December 2018, Alexander Emelianenko was scheduled to fight Brazilian Francimar Barroso at the RCC 5 in Ekaterinburg.
32.
However, in early March 2019 Alexander Emelianenko was detained after crashing into two cars while fleeing police and driving under the influence, leading his upcoming bout canceled.
33.
Alexander Emelianenko was scheduled to fight another Brazilian, Wagner Prado, at the next tournament, RCC 6 on 4 May 2019, in Chelyabinsk.
34.
On 10 May 2019, Alexander Emelianenko was agreed to fight in the GFC promotion with another Brazilian, Luiz Henrique, which, like the previous two fights, did not take place because of the Russian.
35.
Alexander Emelianenko lost the bout via arm-triangle choke in the first round.
36.
On 3 October 2009, Alexander Emelianenko made his professional boxing debut against Khizir Pliev, an army boxing champion from Ingushetia who was making his professional debut, in a fight that ended in a draw.
37.
On 25 September 2022, Aleksander Alexander Emelianenko was knocked out in 13 seconds by Viacheslav Datsik in Moscow at a Hardcore Boxing event.
38.
In 2003, Alexander Emelianenko moved to Saint Petersburg, where he met his future wife Olga, whom he married on 4 September 2004.
39.
Alexander Emelianenko became a member of Red Devil Sport Club after he and his brother Fedor left Russian Top Team, but he subsequently had a falling out with Red Devil Sport Club's and Fedor's manager Vadim Finkelstein.
40.
Alexander Emelianenko denied this, including in an interview published on 5 December 2008 in the same publication where his brother commented about the issue.
41.
In 2003, Alexander Emelianenko enrolled in Belgorod State University, from which he graduated in 2009 with a bachelor's degree.
42.
Alexander Emelianenko has several tattoos, which he collects as a hobby.
43.
Alexander Emelianenko enjoys hunting and claims to have killed a bear by piercing its throat with a bear spear and then stabbing it in the heart with a knife, a traditional way of Russian bear hunting.
44.
Alexander Emelianenko has appeared on a Korean comedy show and Russia Channel One's show Big Races, on which he lost two teeth in a competition against a bull in 2010.
45.
Alexander Emelianenko played one of the protagonists, alongside fellow MMA fighter Julia Berezikova and other Russian athletes, in the 2010 Russian series Olympic Village, starring Yevgeni Sidikhin.
46.
Alexander Emelianenko was accused of assaulting and raping his former housekeeper Polina Stepanova on 2 May 2014, as well as stealing her passport.
47.
Alexander Emelianenko was released on parole in October 2016 and returned to MMA competition in 2017.