Fedor Emelianenko has won championships and accolades in multiple sports, most notably in MMA Pride Fighting Championships, FIAS World Combat Sambo Championship, and Russian Judo Federation National Championship.
80 Facts About Fedor Emelianenko
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Fedor Emelianenko competed in the Heavyweight division for Rizin Fighting Federation and Bellator MMA.
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Fedor Emelianenko is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight MMA fighters of all time.
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Fedor Emelianenko was born in 1976 in the city of Rubizhne, Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union.
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Fedor Emelianenko's mother, Olga Fedorovna, was a teacher, and his father, Vladimir Alexandrovich, was a welder.
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At age 11, Fedor Emelianenko began to practice Sambo and Judo under the tutelage of Vasily Ivanovich Gavrilov.
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Fedor Emelianenko finished high school in 1991 and graduated with honors from a professional trade school as a Electrician in 1994.
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In 1997, Fedor Emelianenko received the certification of "Master of Sports" in Judo and Sambo.
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In 2000, due to a lack of money, Fedor Emelianenko left the Russian national team and began to compete professionally in mixed martial arts.
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Fedor Emelianenko began his mixed martial arts as a member of Russian Top Team, a stable linked to Fighting Network RINGS where he trained under senior members like Volk Han and Andrei Kopylov.
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Fedor Emelianenko is a member of the VOS gym in the Netherlands, where he trains with Johan Vos and Lucien Carbin.
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Fedor Emelianenko has trained with the likes of Ernesto Hoost, Tyrone Spong, and Denis Lebedev.
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Fedor Emelianenko suffered his first loss in the sport with RINGS.
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Fedor Emelianenko said that this elbow reopened a cut sustained in his previous fight against Ricardo Arona.
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However, Hoffman refused to fight Fedor Emelianenko, asserting he had sustained an injury to his shoulder during his previous match, and forfeited.
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Fedor Emelianenko was awarded the win by default and he was given the RINGS Heavyweight Class Championship.
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Fedor Emelianenko, considered an underdog, dominated Herring with ground-and-pound, winning by doctor-stoppage after the first round.
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Fedor Emelianenko was then signed to fight heavily favored Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for Pride's Heavyweight Championship title at Pride 25 on 16 March 2003.
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Fedor Emelianenko rocked him early with punches and Nogueira pulled guard.
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Fedor Emelianenko survived Nogueira's guard, considered the most dangerous in MMA and easily defended all of Nogueira's submission attempts, dominating him for 20 minutes with a brutal ground and pound.
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The judges rendered a unanimous decision and Fedor Emelianenko became the second Pride Heavyweight Champion, a title he would never lose.
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Fedor Emelianenko worked his way up and knocked Fujita down with body kick and a punching combo.
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Fedor Emelianenko then submitted Fujita at 4:17 in the first round with a rear naked choke.
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Fedor Emelianenko took down Goodridge after wobbling him with standing combinations, then finished him with ground and pound in the first round by referee stoppage.
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Fedor Emelianenko broke his hand in this fight, resulting in surgery.
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Fedor Emelianenko has since reinjured this hand, leading to several postponed bouts.
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Fedor Emelianenko's next fight against New Japan professional wrestler Yuji Nagata at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 ended the same way, with Emelianenko first knocking Nagata to the ground twice with punches.
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On 15 August 2004, Fedor Emelianenko faced six-time All-Japan Judo Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist Naoya Ogawa in the semifinals of the 2004 Grand Prix.
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Fedor Emelianenko overpowered the Brazilian on his feet in the first round, beating him to the punch for the first nine minutes.
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Fedor Emelianenko was not able to implement his game plan of putting Emelianenko on his back, save for the final 30 seconds of the first round.
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Fedor Emelianenko was not able to pull guard for any considerable time.
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Fedor Emelianenko got hit by body kicks that discolored his midsection.
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Fedor Emelianenko was then able to get the fight to the ground and land several body shots, which weakened his opponent.
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At five minutes into the first round, Hunt made two attempts at an americana on Fedor Emelianenko's left arm but failed to complete them.
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Fedor Emelianenko got back to his feet and after struggling to take the fight to the ground, he submitted Hunt with a kimura at 8:16 in the first round.
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Early in the fight, Lindland opened a cut above Fedor Emelianenko's left eye and clinched with him, pushing him into the corner and working for a takedown.
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At this point, the referee warned Fedor Emelianenko against grabbing the ropes and Fedor Emelianenko corrected himself.
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Dana White expressed interest in signing Fedor Emelianenko, but considered his management team to be the primary barrier, whereas Finkelchtein cited difficult negotiations as the reason.
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Fedor Emelianenko revealed his intent to set up a unification bout with UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture as his first UFC fight.
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Nevertheless, negotiations broke down, as Fedor Emelianenko committed to a non-exclusive, two-year and six-fight deal with M-1 Global in October 2007.
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Fedor Emelianenko defeated Choi in the opening round by submission via an armbar.
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On 13 February 2008, Fedor Emelianenko attended a press conference held by Dream, a newly formed Japanese mixed martial arts promoter.
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Vadim Finkelchtein confirmed that the organization had a tightly knit alliance with M-1 Global and that Fedor Emelianenko would be fighting on the new organization's fight cards.
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On 19 July 2008, at Affliction: Banned, Fedor Emelianenko faced former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia.
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Fedor Emelianenko dropped him with a quick punch combination, took his back and then finished the fight via submission due to a rear naked choke.
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On 24 January 2009, at Affliction: Day of Reckoning, Fedor Emelianenko fought former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski, who was widely considered a top-5 heavyweight at the time.
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However, as Fedor Emelianenko backed into the ropes, Arlovski attempted a flying knee and Fedor Emelianenko was able to counter with an overhand right which resulted in a knockout of Arlovski at 3:14 of the first round.
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Fedor Emelianenko made Aoki tap out from an Achilles lock just before the bell sounded to end the exhibition.
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Fedor Emelianenko was scheduled to fight former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett on 1 August 2009, at Affliction: Trilogy, but on 22 July Barnett was denied his license to compete by the California State Athletic Commission after testing positive for anabolic steroids.
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Fedor Emelianenko won the fight via TKO in the second round.
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Fedor Emelianenko suffered his first loss in 10 years on 26 June 2010 to Fabricio Werdum.
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Fedor Emelianenko stated through a translator on The MMA Hour that he considered retirement before the Werdum fight due to accumulating injuries and ageing.
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In January 2011, it was announced that Fedor Emelianenko had agreed to enter the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, and would face Antonio Silva on 12 February in the first quarterfinal match.
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On 21 June 2012 in St Petersburg, Russia, Fedor Emelianenko faced three-time UFC heavyweight title contender Pedro Rizzo in an M-1 Global event.
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Originally denying retirement rumors, Fedor Emelianenko made his announcement post-fight after defeating Rizzo by knockout in the first two minutes of the first round.
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On 14 July 2015, after a three year hiatus from mixed martial arts, Fedor Emelianenko announced that he will be returning to active competition and has started training immediately.
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Fedor Emelianenko was in negotiations with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Bellator MMA.
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On 19 September 2015, at the Bellator 142 Dynamite 1 event, Fedor Emelianenko declared in English that he will fight on New Year's Eve for a newly created regional promotion in Japan, Rizin Fighting Federation, under the presidency of former Pride Fighting Championships boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara.
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Fedor Emelianenko faced Fabio Maldonado on 17 June 2016 competing for a promotion on the regional circuit in St Petersburg.
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Fedor Emelianenko later announced that he was going to pursue his career and study all the proposals he had received; the most anticipated being the one from the UFC, which Fedor Emelianenko confirmed he received prior to the fight against Maldonado.
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On 19 November 2016, during the Bellator 165 broadcast it was announced that Fedor Emelianenko signed a multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA.
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Fedor Emelianenko lost the fight via knockout in the first round.
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Fedor Emelianenko faced former UFC Heavyweight champion Frank Mir at Bellator 198 on 28 April 2018.
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Fedor Emelianenko won the fight via TKO in the first round.
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Fedor Emelianenko next faced Chael Sonnen in the semi-finals at Bellator 208 on 13 October 2018.
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Fedor Emelianenko won the fight via TKO in the first round.
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In October 2018, Fedor Emelianenko left the post of the Russian MMA Union's President.
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Fedor Emelianenko lost the fight via knockout just 35 seconds into round one.
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Fedor Emelianenko fought Quinton Jackson on 29 December 2019 at a Bellator and Rizin co-produced event in Japan.
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Fedor Emelianenko won the fight via knockout in round one.
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Fedor Emelianenko fought Timothy Johnson on 23 October 2021 at Bellator 269.
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Fedor Emelianenko won the bout via knockout in round one.
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Fedor Emelianenko faced Ryan Bader in a rematch for the Bellator Heavyweight World Championship on February 4,2023 at Bellator 290.
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Fedor Emelianenko lost the bout via ground and pound TKO in the first round, retiring from MMA after the bout.
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Fedor Emelianenko has shown a high level acumen of hip throws from judo and sambo to bring his adversary to the ground, preferring to work from the clinch as opposed to the more common leg take downs.
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Fedor Emelianenko rarely seeks to improve position over his opponent, instead attacking freely from positions widely considered as dangerous, sometimes baiting for submissions in order to create openings.
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Fedor Emelianenko was elected to a five-year term as a deputy of the Belgorod Regional Duma on 10 October 2010 under the United Russia political party.
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Fedor Emelianenko is a practicing Orthodox Christian and a parishioner at the church of St Nicholas in Stary Oskol.
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Fedor Emelianenko was one of 80 Russian sports champions, cultural icons and national heroes to carry the Olympic torch in St Petersburg in 2008.
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On 21 January 2021, Fedor Emelianenko was hospitalised in Moscow after contracting COVID-19.