Data:
Nickname: "The Last Emperor", "The Most a dangerous person on the planet"
Date of birth: 09/28/1976
Place of birth: Rubizhne, Lugansk region, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
Height: 185 cm.
Weight: 106 kg.
Club: Red Devil
Style: Sambo, Judo, Boxing, Muay Thai
Championships: PRIDE, Bodog Fight, RINGS, MFC M-1, Affliction MMA, StrikeForce/M1
Country Russia
Titles:
MMA
WAMMA Heavyweight Champion 2008–present
Absolute PRIDE heavyweight champion from 03/16/2003 to 04/08/2007
2004 PRIDE Grand Prix Heavyweight Champion
2002 RINGS Kings of Kings Champion
RINGS World Class Heavyweight Champion 2001
Sambo, Judo
World champion in combat sambo 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008
Champion of Russia in combat sambo 1997, 2002, 2006, 2007
Champion of the Armed Forces in combat sambo 1998
European champion in combat sambo 1997
Champion of Russia in judo 1997
Fedor Emelianenko (born September 28, 1976) is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist and the last PRIDE champion. He has held the PRIDE heavyweight title since March 16, 2003.
Numerous major publications including ESPN, The Orange County Register, The Fight Network, The Houston Chronicle and The Wrestling Observer have named Emelianenko the best heavyweight fighter in the world over the past five years. In addition to defeating such fighters as Semmy Schilt, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Filipovic, Mark Hunt, Hong-Man Choi, Fedor also won numerous tournaments in different types martial arts, among which the most outstanding are the Grand Prix PRIDE 2004, the world championships in combat sambo (four times) and the Russian championships in judo.
Biography
Emelianenko was born in 1976 in the city of Rubizhne, Luhansk region, Ukrainian SSR, in the family of Vladimir Alexandrovich, a welder, and Olga Fedorovna, a vocational school teacher. Emelianenko has elder sister Marina (b. 1974) and younger brothers - Alexander (b. 1981) and Ivan (b. 1988), both acting in MMA. In 1978, the Emelianenko family moved to Stary Oskol, in the Belgorod region, where Fedor remained to live and train, even as a famous athlete. Emelianenko lived with the whole family in a communal apartment, occupying a room originally intended for drying clothes, and sharing a kitchen and a bathroom with neighbors.
At the age of 10, Emelianenko began to practice sambo and judo. It is curious that Fedor began to bring his younger brother, Alexander, with him to training, who had no one to leave at home with, as a result of which Alexander himself became a professional athlete and at one time was among the top ten heavyweights in the world. Fedor continuously continued his studies after school, while studying at the city vocational school No. 22, which he graduated with red diploma in 1994 with a degree in electrical engineering. On this, Fedor did not complete his education: in 2003 he entered the Belgorod State University at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports, graduating in 2009, and as of January 2011, he is a postgraduate student at the same university.
From 1995 to 1997, Emelianenko served in the Russian army, first in the fire department, and then in a tank division under Nizhny Novgorod. In the army, Fedor continued training, however, in view of the specifics of military service, he worked more with a barbell, kettlebells, and also made cross-country runs.
In 1999, Fedor married Oksana, whom he met during his school years in a pioneer camp, where Fedor was at a sports camp, and Oksana worked as a counselor. In the same year, their daughter Masha was born. The couple divorced in 2006. Around the same time, after a trip to Diveevo, Fyodor's churching began. Emelianenko began to seriously think about issues of faith while serving in the army, but Fedor's faith took on a pronounced character since 2006.
On December 29, 2007, Fedor and his longtime girlfriend, Marina, had a daughter, Vasilisa, and in October 2009, Fedor and Marina got married. In July 2011, the Emelianenko couple had a daughter, Elizabeth
Martial arts
Emelianenko's interest in martial arts began with sambo and judo. Initially, he was trained under the guidance of Vasily Ivanovich Gavrilov, and later under the guidance of Vladimir Mikhailovich Voronov, who is his coach at the present time. Voronov recalled that the ten-year-old Fedor was relatively weak physically and had no innate talent, but he was persistent and had an unprecedented desire to win.
The official biography of Emelianenko erroneously states that he studied sambo while serving in the army. In 2005, in an interview Fedor gave in Amsterdam, he denied this claim, saying that his training in the army was limited to running and independent strength exercises in a makeshift training room.
In 1997, Emelianenko became a master of sports in sambo and judo, and became a member of the Russian national team. Fedor was awarded a bronze medal in 1998 at the Russian Judo Championship. In 2000, he began to train in the percussion technique of arms and legs under the guidance of coach Alexander Vasilyevich Michkov. Fedor began competing in combat sambo and mixed martial arts tournaments in 2000 at the age of 25. “I was a member of the national teams, I competed, but I received practically nothing,” Fedor said, and by that time I already had a family that I had to feed, of course, I didn’t go into fights without rules a better life, started from scratch, but already for the first fights he began to receive some money.
Fedor used to extensively load himself in training, but in 1999 he almost completely stopped doing weight lifting exercises, replacing them with wrestling, boxing and kickboxing. His daily strength training includes push-ups, squats, and parallel bars. Emelianenko also runs twice a day for a total distance of 12-15 kilometers. Fedor is a supporter of training at high altitude, so several times a year he and his team travel to Kislovodsk to train under conditions of oxygen starvation.
Fedor's team includes Vladimir Mikhailovich Voronov, boxing coach Michkov, Muay Thai coach Ruslan Nagnibeda, doctor, massage therapist and psychologist Oleg Neustroev, as well as his training partners, including Roman Zentsov. Until June 2006, the team also included Fyodor's brother Alexander.
In 2005, Emelnenko began to pay Special attention to practice kicking techniques. He trained Muay Thai with kickboxer Ernesto Hust in the Netherlands and invited Muay Thai coach Ruslan Nagnibeda, champion of the Seikin-do league from 1998 to 2002, to join his team. in the weight category 78 kg. (his record is 33-3-1). Ruslan was also a Muay Thai teacher at Tula State University. AT recent times Emelianenko began to show interest in training young athletes.
Each new strike by Fedor, each technique is proof of his professionalism, technicality and strength. Fedor keeps many subtleties of preparation for battle a secret. “Every time I prepare for a new fight, I focus on the habits of my opponent, think about what techniques to use against him.” Fedor emphasizes that the battle is won not only by the one who is stronger, but often by the one who is smarter, because the main thing in the ring is to think.
In November 2007, Emelianenko once again took part in the World Sambo Championship, where 780 wrestlers from 45 countries competed. His opponent in the quarterfinals was unable to fight. In the semi-finals, Fedor defeated the Bulgarian wrestler by choke at 40 seconds. Another finalist refused to take part in the final, thus giving the victory in the tournament to Emelianenko.
"I am overwhelmed with a sense of joy when, after the victory, I stand in the ring and play the Russian anthem, Fedor said, I fight for my country, this is one of the main reference points for me."
All foreign journalists and fans of MMA fights note how Fedor behaves before the fight and in everyday life. He never shows negative emotions and does not seek to demonstrate his strength and intimidate the enemy. On the contrary, his openness and goodwill seem unconventional for such a harsh type of competition. Fedor smiles a lot, communicates with fans, is friends with most of his rivals, or at least is on friendly terms with them.
Red Devil Club
Early in his mixed martial arts career, Fedor Emelianenko was a member of the Russian Top Team and trained with the first generation of Russian RINGS fighters such as Volk Khan and Andrey Kopylov. After Emelianenko became the PRIDE heavyweight champion, his relationship with the Russian Top Team manager, Vladimir Evgenyevich Pogodin, turned cold. According to Fedor, Pogodin, being vice president of the World Sambo Federation, tried to manipulate Emelianenko's career. He acted with threats, and also, using his official position, deprived Fedor and Alexander Emelianenko of the title of master of sports. In addition, Fedor had financial claims - he claimed that he had been deceived by Pogodin. After the fight between Fedor and Harry Goodridge, the Emelianenko brothers left the Russian Top Team and began training in St. Petersburg, at the Red Devil club, which was (and still is) led by Vadim Finkelstein. Emelianenko is also a member of the Dutch VOS Club, where he trains with Johan Vos and Lucien Karbin.
Emelianenko's only defeat is rather controversial. At the King of Kings 2000 Block B tournament, on December 22, 2000, Fedor's fight with Tsuyoshi Kohsak was stopped by a doctor at the 17th second due to a cut. When viewed in slow motion, it is clear that the cut appeared due to an elbow strike to the head missed by Fedor. Under RINGS rules, elbow strikes are prohibited unless the fighter is wearing elbow pads. Kohsak did not have elbow pads. Emelianenko said that this elbow strike opened up a wound he received in a previous fight against Ricardo Aron. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka was then declared the winner. Fedor avenged Tsuyoshi for this loss at PRIDE Bushido 6 on April 3, 2005. The fight was stopped by a doctor after the first round and Emelianenko won via TKO.
Emelianenko entered PRIDE after winning the RINGS King of Kings 2002 tournament. He made his debut at PRIDE 21 on June 23, 2002 against 256-pound Dutch fighter Semmy Schilt, whom he defeated via unanimous decision. His next opponent was heavyweight Heath Herring for the title of first contender for the heavyweight title. Emelianenko, in whose victory no one believed, won the fight (the fight was stopped by a doctor after the first round). Thus, Fedor Emelianenko entered the fight for the title of champion.
On March 16, 2003, at PRIDE 25, Emelianenko fought Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the heavyweight championship. The judges unanimously gave the victory to Fedor, and he became the second PRIDE heavyweight champion.
Three months later, Emelianenko defended his title against former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuyuki Fujita. A quick victory was expected from Emelianenko, but Fujita contrived to land a sharp, stunning right hook. Then Emelianenko claimed that this was the only time he was knocked down. Fedor had to enter the clinch. He then knocked Fujita down and, in the fifth minute of the fight, performed a choke hold.
Emelianenko's next fight was against Harry "Big Daddy" Goodridge at the 2003 Total Elimination tournament. Fedor used ground and pound tactics. The referee stopped the fight in the first round after Fedor landed multiple unanswered punches and kicks to Goodridge's head. In this fight, Emelianenko broke his arm, so surgery was required. After that, he repeatedly injured the same hand, which led to the postponement of several meetings.
His next fight against Japanese professional wrestler Yuji Nagata at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 followed the same pattern. Emelianenko knocked Nagata down twice with blows and delivered a series of blows to the prone opponent. As a result, the fight was stopped in the second minute.
Four months later, at Total Elimination 2004, he met PRIDE 2000 Grand Prix winner and former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman for the first time in the ring. Fedor won in the third minute of the first round, holding the armbar. Emelianenko expressed great respect to Coleman, recognizing his merit in popularizing the ground and pound technique, which became his hallmark.
The fight that took place two months later, at the second stage of the tournament, is noteworthy. Emelianenko met with Coleman's protege Kevin "The Monster" Rundleman. Rundleman is a two-time INCAA Division I champion. state university The Ohio State and former UFC heavyweight champion quickly went into the clinch and threw over his head, knocking Emelianenko head down onto the mats. But Fedor immediately got up and ended the fight in the second minute of the first round with an armbar.
On August 15, 2004, in the semi-finals of the 2004 Grand Prix, Emelianenko met with six-time Japanese judo champion Naoya Ogawa. In the second minute of the first round, Fedor finished the fight with a painful hold on his arm. Emelianenko's next opponent was Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who had defeated former Emelianenko teammate Sergei Kharitonov earlier that evening. The fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was not only for the 2004 Grand Prix title, but also for the PRIDE heavyweight title. Nogueira was the interim heavyweight title holder as Emelianenko failed to secure the title in their last fight. Then the meeting was stopped due to a cut accidentally received by Emelianenko. Thus, at Shockwave 2004 was the third meeting between Fedor and Nogueira. The first nine minutes of the first round passed under a hail of blows that Emelianenko brought down on the enemy, as well as in unsuccessful attempts by Nogueira to take the fight to the ground. In the second and third rounds, Fedor's wonderful work in defense and counterattack brought him a well-deserved victory. By unanimous decision of the judges, Emelianenko won the fight and regained the title of champion.
In another notable encounter, Emelianenko defeated former K-1 star Mirko "CroCop" Filippovich. Fedor called this fight his most brutal fight. Emelianenko turned out to be stronger than Filipovich in the standing position, inflicting many strong blows on his body, and also controlled the fight on the ground, eventually winning by unanimous decision of the judges. He later said that due to a hand injury, he was unable to perform a painful hold and finish the fight earlier.
At the first American PRIDE tournament, Emelianenko met with Mark Coleman. In this fight, Coleman failed to demonstrate anything outstanding - he was defeated by a painful hold on his arm in the second minute of the second round.
At the Shockwave 2006 tournament, Fedor Emelianenko defended his title against 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix champion Mark Hunt. Fedor had to fight this fight with a broken toe. In the second minute of the first round, he tried to hold the lever on his elbow, but Hunt managed to wriggle out. At the fifth minute of the first round, Hunt already tried twice to hold a painful hold on left hand Emelianenko, but could not complete them. As a result, Fedor himself performed a painful hold and ended the fight in the ninth minute of the first round.
BodogFight
Under the terms of the contract between Emelianenko and PRIDE, Fedor had the right to take part in fights held by another organization if the tournament was held in Russia. In accordance with this agreement, Emelianenko had a fight with Matt Lindland, organized by BodogFight. The meeting took place on April 14, 2007 in St. Petersburg, at the Clash of the Nations tournament. Lindland, in preparation for the fight, recovered by moving from middleweight to heavyweight. He weighed 218 pounds to Emelianenko's 233.
At the very beginning of the fight, Lindland broke Fedor's left eyebrow, went into the clinch, holding the opponent in the corner and trying to make a throw. The referee gave Emelianenko a warning for grabbing the ropes. After a few seconds spent in the clinch, Fedor himself managed to throw Lindland to the mats. Once on top, Emelianenko tried to perform a painful hold on the opponent's leg, but Lindland twisted out. As a result, at the very end of the third minute of the first round, Fedor managed to leverage the elbow, and the fight was over.
Negotiations with UFC and M-1 Global
From the moment PRIDE was sold to UFC owners and Emelianenko's contract with PRIDE expired, there have been speculations about Fedor's possible move to the UFC, especially since there was a public quarrel between Calvin Air (Bodog's) and Emelianenko's manager Vadim Finkelstein. In an interview with the Baltimore Sun in June 2007, Chuck Liddell expressed the idea that Emelianenko would be in the UFC soon.Dana White also expressed his interest in Emelianenko, but said that his managers were the main obstacle to signing a contract.At the same time, Finkelstein cited the difficulty of negotiations as a reason. main reason disagreements between them - Finkelstein's demand to conclude contracts with other members of the Red Devil club, as well as to allow Emelianenko to compete in combat sambo. At UFC 76, UFC President Dana White stated that he expects Emelianenko to sign with the UFC in late 2007 or early 2008 after Fedor competed in a sambo event that White would not have allowed him to compete in if the contract had already been signed. Dana White also said he intends to set up Emelianenko's first UFS fight with heavyweight champion Randy Couture. However, these negotiations ended in nothing, since in October 2007 Emelianenko signed a contract with M-1 Global for two years and six fights.
M-1 Global
Monte Cox, president of M-1 Global, confirmed that Emelianenko will fight South Korean kickboxer Hong-Man Choi at the New Year's Eve, Yarennoka tournament, which is scheduled in Japan and will be organized by the former staff of PRIDE FC with the support of M- 1 Global, FEG and DEEP Emelianenko defeated Choi in the first round with an armbar submission.
On February 13, 2008, Fedor attended the first press conference for DREAM (a new Japanese mixed martial arts tournament). The video with Fedor's fights was present in the film about the fighters of this tournament. Fedor and his manager, Finkelstein, confirmed that the new organization works closely with M-1 Global.
Fedor vs. Dana White
After the Affliction fiasco, UFC president Dana White, who had been extremely critical of Emelianenko's fighting abilities before Fedor's fight with Tim Sylvia, attempted to get an exclusive contract with him: “He became my obsession. I want this [to see Fedor in the UFC] even more than the fans." Widely regarded as the best fighter mixed style in the world, Fedor immediately received a title shot with then UFC champion Brock Lesnar and a long-term contract with a fee of $ 2 million per fight plus a percentage of the proceeds from the entire event, the main event of which is Fedor's fight. Negotiations reached an impasse: the demands of the manager Fedor Vadim Finkelstein - to take M-1 Global as an equal partner in organizing fights the last emperor White found it unacceptable.
Dana White even insulted Fedor at a press conference, calling him a laughingstock. He also claimed that Fedor's results in fights without rules are a farce. White's open insults followed Fedor's refusal to participate in the UFC. On February 8, 2008, Emelianenko wrote an open letter to Dana White. Here is his text: I have repeatedly heard addresses to my address on the Internet from Dana White. To allow such unfounded statements is not like a man, not like a gentleman! If they want to prove their case, then let them give me a fight with Randy or with their reigning champion Antonio Noguera. And, in the future, I would not like to hear unfounded accusations in my direction. My last fight in Japan showed once again that I am ready to fight against any opponent with any size, experience and set of fighting qualities. I fought and always want to fight the best fighters. And fighting Randy is my first priority, he's a great fighter and it's a pity the UFC's too tight and lopsided contracts still don't allow that to happen. The whole world wants to see me fight your champions, not listen to your press conferences .Our organization M-1 Global is ready to arrange such fights within the framework of our tournaments or within the framework of our joint projects.
White did not publicly respond to the letter.
After Fedor's three consecutive losses, there were questions about his future with the organization, but Scott Cocker assured fans that he would be happy to see Fedor back under the Strikeforce umbrella. However, Dana White, president of Zuffa LLC, which bought out Strikeforce in early 2011, decided otherwise and refused to renew Emelianenko's contract. Vadim Finkelstein called White's statement "PR at the expense of Emelianenko".
Record in MMA
By the end of his career, Fedor officially held 40 fights, won 35 victories (12 knockouts, 15 painful), suffered 4 defeats, 1 fight did not take place.
Fedor vs. Tim Sylvius
On July 19, 2008, in California, USA, a duel took place for the right to win the title of absolute heavyweight champion between Fedor Emelianenko and Tim Sylvia. Fedor once again proved that he is rightfully called the strongest man in the world. And if it took a total of 150 hours to make the championship belt for this fight, then 36 seconds were enough for the champion to confirm the right to possess it! Fedor carried out a lightning attack, inflicting more than twenty accurate blows to the enemy, turned the fight to the ground and finished it with a crown choke!
Fight "M1-Strikeforce" Fedor Emelianenko - Brett Rogers
"Cears Center Arena", Chicago, Illinois, USA
On November 8, 2009, a joint Strikeforce / M-1 Global tournament was held in Chicago in the main event of which the best MMA fighter in the world, 33-year-old Russian Fedor Emelianenko (30-1), met with an undefeated (10-0) 28- summer American Brett Rogers.
Already at the beginning of the fight, Rogers made his opponent's nose bleed with his jab. The Russian had no time to stop this bleeding, so both soon had blood visible all over their bodies. Despite this microtrauma, the Russian, according to eyewitnesses, looked noticeably better both in the standing and in the stalls. Both managed to exchange powerful attacks, until in the middle of the second round, during a fight in the stance, Fedor struck with a right cross, which even turned out in the style of the American himself. Such a moment for Rogers turned out to be akin to a knockout, because the American fell to the floor. Emelianenko jumped on him to finish him off, but referee John "Big" McCarthy intervened. The referee stopped the fight a minute and 48 seconds before the end of the round and awarded Emelianenko the victory by technical knockout.
In a post-match interview with CBS, Fedor Emelianenko thanked all his fans for their support, noting that this victory largely belongs to them and his beloved country, beloved Motherland, to those people who were rooting and praying for him at that moment.
Fedor Emelianenko - "Athlete of 2009"!
The Sovetsky Sport newspaper, together with Komsomolskaya Pravda and with the support of the Ministry of Sports, has completed its campaign - the Golden Team of Russia National Prize, implemented as part of the Federal Target Program "Development of Physical Culture and Sports in the Russian Federation until 2015". In the Sportsman of the Year category Fedor Emelianenko won. Voting ended on the night of December 12-13, and the award ceremony took place on December 14.
Shortly thereafter, on December 22, Fedor Emelianenko became an honorary citizen of the Belgorod region.
The merits of the famous athlete in promoting sports and a healthy lifestyle were noted by the head of the region. Governor Yevgeny Savchenko signed a decree according to which Fedor Emelianenko became an honorary citizen of the region. The information that the athlete became one of the honorary citizens of the region was confirmed in the governor's office. In all likelihood, the official presentation of the corresponding badge will take place at the end of December in Stary Oskol - at the opening of the Sports Palace named after Prince Alexander Nevsky.
Defeats
First indisputable defeat Emelianenko's next fight took place on June 26, 2010 against Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist and Abu Dhabi Combat Club champion Fabricio Werdum. Before the fight, Werdum's chances were regarded by experts and fans as very low. During the fight, after a little reconnaissance, Fedor caught the enemy on the counter move, knocked him down with a blow of his hand and rushed to finish off in the stalls, where Fabricio first grabbed his hand, and then concluded Emelianenko in a “triangle”. Fedor tried to free himself, but was unsuccessful, and at around 1:09 of the first round, Emelianenko was forced to surrender, which was his first undeniable defeat in his career. Subsequently, this technique was recognized as the "Best Choke of 2010" according to the site "Sherdog". After the fight, Werdum said that he still considers Emelianenko the best fighter and his idol, and also expressed a desire to have a rematch, while indicating that he would like to fight in Russia "like Rocky Balboa." However, a few days later, Werdum said that he needed an operation on his hand, as a result of which the second meeting of the two fighters was postponed indefinitely. The defeat of Emelianenko produced the effect of an exploding bomb among MMA fans. First of all, Emelianenko lost his undeniable leadership in the ratings of the best fighters. His heavyweight rating, which had been number one for many years by most major publications, dropped significantly: MMA Fighting dropped him to number five, and MMA Weekly and Sherdog dropped him to number three. In addition, many sites (for example, "Sherdog", MMAFighting.com) generally excluded Emelianenko from the top ten of the best fighters, regardless of the weight category. In addition, rumors circulated in the press that M-1 Global, having lost its main trump card - the invincibility of Fedor, was faced with big problems endangering the existence of the company. The rumors were immediately denied by the company's COO, Yevgeny Kogan, via his personal Twitter blog.
Fight against Silva In early January 2011, it was announced that Fedor would take part in the Strikeforce Grand Prix tournament and his opponent in the first stage would be a Brazilian fighter, António Silva, nicknamed "Bigfoot" (Russian. Snowman ), which is associated with his endocrine disease, manifested by an increase in the hands, feet, jaw and skull. At the time of the announcement of the fight, Silva had 15 wins and 2 losses on his track record, as well as the heavyweight champion title of the inactive EliteXC organization. At the weigh-in, a day before the fight, Silva met the limit of the heavy weight category - 120 kg, and the next day he weighed 129 kg, despite the fact that Emelianenko weighed 104 kg. Nevertheless, the majority of both experts and fans considered Fedor to be the favorite. In particular, the site "mixfight.ru" cited forecasts by Alexey Oleinik, Andrey Semyonov, Vladimir Matyushenko and Denis Siver, which boiled down to the fact that he would have a tough fight, but he would win, and according to the results of a survey on the site "mmajunkie.com", 35% of respondents spoke in favor of the final victory of Emelianenko in the Grand Prix. The fight, which took place on February 12, 2011, aroused increased interest of viewers: for the Russians, the live broadcast was conducted by the Russia-2 TV channel, for the Americans - by the Showtime cable TV channel, according to which, during the broadcast of the fight, there were about 1,100 people in front of the TV screens alone. 000 viewers. In addition, an unspecified number of fans took advantage of illegal broadcasts of the tournament via the Internet. In the first round, the fighters often exchanged blows, while Silva, taking advantage of his height and weight, managed to break Emelianenko's nose. After another attack by the Brazilian, the fighters entered the clinch, where Fedor tried to choke the guillotine, but Silva escaped the choke, although he lost his balance and fell on his back. Fedor twice passed through Silva's guard, finding himself in the semi-guard, where he even tried to hold a kimura painful hold, but the difference in size and wrestling skills of Silva, who has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, did not allow Emelianenko to fulfill his plan. From the first seconds of the second round, Silva made a successful pass to the legs and, for almost the entire round, hit Fedor in the ground and pound, trying several times to choke him. After five minutes of the round, Emelianenko developed an extensive hematoma in his right eye, and, despite Fedor's desire to continue the fight, the doctors banned it. Thus, Emelianenko was eliminated from the tournament in the first stage and received his second defeat in a row, which reduced his ranking in the list of the best heavyweights in the world to eighth place according to Sherdog and seventh according to MMA Weekly. When announcing the fight with Silva, it also became known that Fedor extended his contract with Strikeforce for at least four more fights, but after losing, Fedor said that perhaps it was time for him to leave the sport. However, when he returned to Russia, Fedor said that he had “thrown away the words” regarding his departure from the sport and would be able to hold a few more fights.
Fight against Henderson.
On July 30, Fedor met with American fighter Dan Henderson, the former Pride middleweight champion and current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion. A former two-time member of the US Greco-Roman wrestling team, Henderson, who competed in the 93 kg and 85 kg weight categories throughout his career, first tried himself in the heavy weight category, gaining the required 94 kilograms with difficulty. At the same time, Henderson, in addition to wrestling, is known for his knockout blow right hand called "H-Bomb", said that he did not feel heavy and slow. The opinions of professional fighters who predicted the outcome of the battle were divided: if earlier, almost everyone preferred Fedor, then after two defeats, there was much more skepticism towards him. Henderson was more productive, and Emelianenko opened a small cut in the area of \u200b\u200bthe right eye. Henderson went into the clinch and pinned Fedor to the net, where he managed to land several knees to the body and inside hips. Dispersing, the opponents again exchanged blows, and this time Emelianenko was more accurate: Henderson fell, and Fedor tried to finish him on the ground. However, Dan dodged, with the help of a thigh grab, he went behind Fedor's back and delivered an uppercut that knocked down Emelianenko. Henderson landed a few more punches, which referee Herb Dean thought were enough to stop the fight. Despite the fact that Fedor lost consciousness from the uppercut, by the time Herb Dean stopped the fight, he came to his senses, and the victory was recorded as from a technical knockout. After the fight, Emelianenko said that the fight was stopped too early, and Henderson, who is a big fan of Fedor, called what happened one of the most serious achievements in his career. For Emelianenko, the fight with Henderson was the last under the contract with Strikeforce. According to the manager of the fighter, Emelianenko's contract was signed with the Showtime channel, which remained valid.
Later career
Fight against Monson On November 20, 2011, Emelianenko fought for the first time in Moscow: at USC Olimpiysky he entered the ring against a two-time champion ADCC forty-year-old Jeffrey Monson, nicknamed "The Snowman" in the main fight of the evening " M-1 Global: Fedor vs Monson", which was broadcast in live"Russia-2". Fedor had the advantage for three rounds, sending the opponent to the floor over and over again with punches or low kicks, which, it is worth noting, he practically did not use before this fight. However, the fight did not continue in the stalls: Emelianenko did not use his ground-and-pound arsenal, preferring to fight in the stand. The result of Fedor's dominance was his victory by unanimous decision, and after the fight, doctors diagnosed Monson with a fracture of the fibula of his right leg. After the end of the fight, Vladimir Putin, who was present in the hall, rose to the ring to Emelianenko and congratulated the fighter on his victory. At this time, a rumble of fans was heard in the hall, opinions regarding the cause of which differ: officials claim that the fans booed the losing Monzon; at the same time, many observers say that it was the prime minister who caused the discontent. In any case, in the replay shown on federal channels, this hum was suppressed.
Dream February 13, 2008 Emelianenko attended a press conference for the new Japanese promotion "Dream", formed on the ruins of "Pride". Vadim Finkelstein confirmed the alliance between Dream and M-1 Global, indicating that Emelianenko will compete in the battles of the new Japanese organization. On December 31, 2011, Fedor made his debut in this organization, taking part in the New Year's tournament Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011, where he performed in the main fight of the evening against the newcomer MMA, the Olympic champion in judo in 2008,Satoshi Ishii. The fight went completely under the dictation of Fedor Emelianenko: as in the fight with Monson, the Russian stubbornly adhered to the tactics of refusing any wrestling techniques, completely holding the fight in a stance and striking mainly with his hands. Satoshi Ishii was unable to create any attacking initiative and spent the entire time on the defensive without trying to attack. The fight ended in the middle of the first round, when Emelianenko knocked out the opponent with a right hand. June 21, 2012 Emelianenko came out against the Brazilian heavyweight Pedro Rizzo, known for his performances in the early UFC tournaments. Fedor won by knockout in the first round. After this fight, he announced the completion of the fighter's career.
Starting a new activity
On May 16, 2012, Fedor Emelianenko was elected the first president of the established Union of Mixed Martial Arts MMA of Russia
and section
Physical data:
Growth - 183 cm;
The weight - 103 kg;
Hand span - 188 cm
Battle stats: 40 fights - 35 wins - 4 losses - 1 failed fight.
Fighting style: combat sambo, judo.
Debut in mixed martial arts: May 2000
Trophies and Achievements:
PRIDE Heavyweight Champion from 2003 to 2007;
· Winner of two Grand Prix RINGS - 2001, 2002;
WAMMA Heavyweight Champion
Champion of Russia in judo - 1998;
· Champion of Russia in combat sambo - 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012;
· World champion in combat sambo – 2002, 2005, 2007;
European champion in combat sambo - 1997.
Fighting technique. Fedor Emelianenko is the most prominent representative of the Russian school of combat sambo, the man who conquered the world of MMA thanks to this type of fight. But, Fedor Emelianenko's judo skills should not be denied. At the dawn of his career, Fedor was more noticeable in his strong striking combat technique. But, the more fights in MMA the Russian fighter had, the more pronounced the wrestling technique of the fighter became. Numerous victories by suffocating and painful techniques are evidence of this. An important side of the fighting technique of Fedor Emelianenko is his courage in the ring, which many times rescued the Russian fighter. Emelianenko's punching technique made itself felt in fights with contact fighters such as Andrey Arlovsky (one of the most spectacular knockouts in MMA history) and Pedro Rizzo. In general, the main qualities of Emelianenko must be considered great striking power and the ability to overcome difficulties in the ring.
Career development. Fedor Emelianenko's career started with great victories in combat sambo championships and debut in MMA in 2000, when Fedor started participating in RINGS tournaments. 12 fights, 11 victories and 1 defeat - this is the start of Emelianenko's career in MMA. Then, the fateful signing of a contract with the best organization MMA for 2002 PRIDE, in which the Russian fighter became a real legend of mixed martial arts. After several starting victories, Fedor Emelianenko won the right to a championship fight against his avid opponent António Nogueira, who was defeated by him twice in his career. As part of the Japanese MMA organization, the Russian fighter became invincible and defeated the strongest fighters of that time.
The collapse of Pride was a turning point in the career of Fedor Emelianenko. After unsuccessful negotiations with the growing UFC, Emelianenko became an M-1 fighter, where he was the owner of an 8.5% stake in the company. The fights within the M-1 were not outstanding, and Emelianenko began to have fewer fights per year than he did under the auspices of PRIDE, so the career of the great Russian warrior began to end. An attempt to return to the elite, with the signing of a contract with Strikeforce, ended in complete failure - three defeats from Werdum, Silva and Henderson. Such an unsuccessful series put an end to Fedor's ambitions.
In the future, there were four victories that were not won over the strongest opponents, and Emelianenko began working as an expert on TV and is actively promoting his non-standard training process, which consists in original exercises.
The future athlete was born on September 28, 1976 in the village of Rubizhnoye, Lugansk region in Ukraine. A couple of years later, his family moved to a permanent place of residence in the city of Stary Oskol, Belgorod Region. It is this place that Fedor considers his homeland and brings unprecedented popularity to the city with his sporting successes.
Already at the age of ten, the boy went to study in sports section martial arts. He chose sambo and judo. From the first days it was clear that Fedor had a great future. He worked out for several hours a day and never missed a workout. Fedor also took with him his younger brother Alexander, who also later became a famous athlete.
After leaving school, Fedor went to study at a school as an electrician and graduated from vocational school in 1994 with honors. All this time he did not stop training and developing his skills in martial arts. Then in his life there was a service in the army.
Already at a young age, Emelianenko began to take part in various competitions and tournaments. And after completing military service in the tank troops, he returns to sports again and receives the title of master of sports not only in sambo, but also in judo.
In 1999, Fedor was invited to the Russian Sambo team. He successfully participates in several tournaments and wins prizes. But due to poor sponsorship, he has to go from amateurs to professionals. So in 2000, Emelianenko became a mixed martial arts fighter. Fedor approaches the matter with full dedication and develops a new skill. He is hard at boxing and has a powerful punch with both hands.
Fedor is invited to participate in the fights of the Japanese organization of mixed martial arts "RINGS". This becomes his first experience in the ring. Emelianenko spends 11 fights and suffers one defeat from a Japanese athlete.
Then Fedor moves to other world's best MMA organizations and holds more than 40 fights in total, of which 37 meetings end in his victory. Emelianenko several times receives the world title in the heavyweight category and repeatedly defends it in title fights. For his merits, he receives many awards and titles, among which the state award of Russia, the Order "For Merit to the Fatherland, 2nd Class," stands out in particular.
In addition to mixed fights, Fedor continues to participate in sambo competitions. He several times becomes the winner of the World and European Championships.
Emelianenko continues to enter the ring even now. By his example at the age of 41, he shows young people how to succeed in sports. Fedor also continues to live in Stary Oskol and is engaged in educating a new generation of Russian mixed martial arts fighters.
Emelianenko's personal life
There are only two true loves in Fedor's life. This is the first wife Oksana, with whom they got married back in 1999, and the second wife Marina. Having lived with Oksana for more than 6 years, Emelianenko divorced. Then already in 2009 he had a wedding with his longtime girlfriend Marina. But this marriage soon fell apart. In 2013, Fedor returned to Oksana, and they got married in the church.
In total, Emelianenko had four children from both wives. Moreover, amazing fact is that they were all girls. The last child was born only in 2017.
An athlete was born in a family of workers (gas-electric welder, crane operator).
In 1978, a family from Ukraine moved to Russia, to the city of Stary Oskol. In the biography of Fedor Emelianenko, the passion for martial arts manifested itself at the age of 10 years. Then he began to study in the sambo and judo section, where Vasily Ivanovich Gavrilov was the coach. In 1987, Fedor entered the sports class of coach Vladimir Mikhailovich Voronov. After graduating from school in 1991, the athlete began to study at a vocational school. A year after his graduation in 1995, he began serving in the army. After serving, in 1997, Fedor again began to intensively play sports and participate in competitions. In the same year, the athlete won the international sambo competition for the first time. Also in 1997 he was awarded the title of master of sports in judo. In 1998, Fedor won the international sambo competition. So in the biography of Fedor Emelianenko, the second title of master of sports was received, now in sambo.
In addition, 1998 brought many other victories to the treasury of the athlete's achievements. Fedor won first and third places at the Russian Judo Championship, and took third place at the Sambo Championship. The athlete also became a champion in the competitions of the Russian armed forces, and in the absolute weight category of this competition he took second place. The following year, Fedor Emelianenko won international sambo competitions. At the same time, the athlete's team became the first at the European Championships.
However, the athlete did not stop there. In 2000, he began to study the technique of hand-to-hand combat with coach Alexander Vasilyevich Michkov. Fedor began to participate in fights without rules, and at first in a more humane version of Rings. Having immediately achieved considerable results, already in 2001 Fedor became the world champion in this version of fighting without rules. After that, the athlete switched to a more prestigious version - "Pride". The cruel rules of Pride allow you to beat the enemy in a lying position with your feet and hands to the head, and if the fighter is knocked down, to finish him off.
Without stopping doing sambo, Fedor won the Russian championship in 2002, then the world championship in Greece. In Panama, Fedor became the first in the absolute weight category at the World Combat Sambo Championship. Then in 2003, Fedor Emelianenko won the title of world champion in fights without rules of the Pride version, defeating former champion Antonio Rodrigo Nagier. Many of the strongest fighters were defeated in the fight with Fedor, among them Sam Schilt, Heath Hiring, Kazuyuki Fujita, Gary Goodridge.
In 2004, in the biography of Fedor Emelianenko, several outstanding fights were held with such rivals as Kevin Rendleman, Naoya Ogawa, Mark Colman, Antonio Nogueira. Fedor received two more titles: Grand Prix champion, world champion in fights without rules of the Pride version. The following year, the athlete became the Pride World Champion for the third time, and also became a three-time SAMBO champion. In 2006, Fedor Emelianenko was awarded the title of four-time world champion in fights without rules according to Pride.
So, in the biography of Fedor Emelianenko there were many victories. The athlete is a master of sports in sambo and judo, has a national award "Golden Belt".
Biography score
New feature! The average rating this biography received. Show rating
Fedor Emelianenko (born 09/28/1976) - the legendary Russian MMA fighter, four-time world champion in mixed martial arts - MMA in heavy weight according to Pride FC, two-time - according to RINGS, two-time - according to WAMMA, four-time world champion and nine-time champion of Russia in combat sambo. Honored Master of Sports in Sambo and International Master of Sports in Judo. He currently competes in Rizin Fighting Federation and Bellator MMA.
In the period from 2003 to 2010, Emelianenko was recognized worldwide by the most famous sports media (ESPN, Sherdog, Full Contact Fighter, MMA Weekly, Knockout) as the best heavyweight MMA fighter. In the same period, in the lists of the best fighters, regardless of the weight category (English pound-for-pound), Emelianenko held the leading position, being in first place according to MMA.com, second according to MMANews and third according to version of "Sherdog" and was recognized by many experts as the best MMA fighter in the history of sports. The list of fighters defeated by Fedor includes: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Sammy Schilt, Mark Coleman, Ricardo Arona, Mirko Filipovich, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Orlovsky, Mark Hunt and other famous fighters.
For almost ten years, Fedor remained undefeated, which is an unprecedented achievement in the history of MMA. Emelianenko received his first official defeat under controversial circumstances: on December 22, 2000, as part of the King of Kings 2000 Block B tournament, the Japanese fighter Tsuyoshi Kosaka cut Fedor’s eyebrow with a forbidden elbow strike, and already at the 17th second of the fight, the doctors stopped the fight.
Since within the framework of the tournament there had to be a winner who would continue his way to the final, and Emelianenko could not continue to participate, Kosaka was recognized as the winner of the battle. In this regard, many fans of mixed martial arts, not taking into account this defeat due to its illegitimacy, considered Emelianenko the only undefeated MMA fighter before his defeat to Fabricio Werduma, who won by triangle choke on June 26, 2010 at the Strikeforce 26 tournament.
Fedor Emelianenko was born on September 28, 1976 in the Ukrainian city of Rubizhne. Father Vladimir Alexandrovich worked as a welder, and mother Olga Fedorovna worked as a teacher at the school. Fedor was the second child, in total there were four children in the family.
In 1978, the family moved to Russia, settling in the city of Stary Oskol. There they lived in a communal apartment - the family got a small room, originally intended for drying clothes.
At the age of 10, Fedya enrolled in the judo and sambo sections, where he trained under the guidance of Vasily Gavrilov. The boy literally lived in training, sometimes even staying in the gym for the night. The future athlete had to take his younger brother Sasha with him to training, who had no one to leave with. In the future, Alexander also became a professional athlete.
After a year of successful training, Fedor Emelianenko, as a promising student, was offered to go to the class of Vladimir Voronov. After graduating from high school, the guy went to study at a vocational school, which he graduated in 1994 with a red diploma in electrician.
In 1995, Emelianenko was drafted into the Russian army, where he served until 1997. During the years of service, not forgetting about intensive training, he increased muscle mass by more than 20 kg.
From 2003 to 2009, Fedor studied at the Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports of Belgorod State University. In the same educational institution, the athlete completed postgraduate studies.
Returning from the army, Fedor Emelianenko became the winner of the international tournament held in Kursk, and received the title of master of sports in judo and sambo. In 1998, the first place in the most prestigious international class "A" tournament brought him the title of international class master of sports of Russia in sambo. In the same year, he became the champion of Russia and received "bronze" in two championships of Russia at once - in judo and sambo. In addition, the athlete achieved the title of champion in his weight category.
The following year brought Emelianenko victory in Moscow international sambo tournaments. The wrestler won "bronze" in international tournaments of class "A" (Moscow, Sofia).
In the late 90s, the athlete moved to MMA, choosing a Japanese organization called Rings for cooperation. Under the auspices of this organization, he spent 11 fights, and won victories over such fighters as Renato "Babalu" Sobral and ADCC champion, Ricardo Arona. Fedor lost only once. Failure overtook the athlete in the final fight - the opponent, Kosaka, inflicted a forbidden elbow blow on Fedor Emelianenko: as a result of a double cut, he dropped out of the fight.
In 2000, the wrestler began to intensively study boxing techniques under the guidance of Alexander Michkov. At the same time, he joined the Russian Top Team. Three years later, Fedor left the club, pointing out the lack of integrity of the manager Vladimir Pogodin and joined the Red Devil Fighting Team.
Having become the RINGS champion, Emelianenko was invited to the Japanese Pride promotion, the largest MMA organization in the world at that time. In Pride, Emelianenko made his debut on June 23, 2002, speaking out against the Dutch fighter Semmy Schilt, who was almost 30 centimeters taller. Despite such a big difference, Emelianenko confidently won the fight by unanimous decision, after which he went to the American Heath Herring. The winner of the match would be eligible to fight for the Pride title against Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who has held the Pride championship belt since 2001. Despite the fact that Herring was considered the favorite, Emelianenko managed to win by technical knockout already in the first round, knocking the American to the floor and bringing down a hail of blows on him in the ground floor. As a result of successful attacks by Emelianenko, Herring opened a serious cut, after examining which, the doctor forbade the continuation of the fight.
After defeating Herring, Fedor got the opportunity to face Nogueira in the ring for the Pride title. After three rounds of stubborn confrontation at the Pride 25 tournament, Emelianenko won by unanimous decision, becoming the Pride heavyweight champion.
In 2003, Fedor spent three more fights in Pride, meeting with Kazuyuki Fujita, Gary Goodridge and Yuji Nagata. It is worth noting that the fight with Fujita made Fedor's fans worry, as the Japanese wrestler managed to seriously shock Fedor, but Emelianenko went into the clinch and turned the fight to the ground, where he submitted the Japanese.
As part of the Pride Heavyweight Grand Prix 2004 tournament, Fedor met with former UFC champion and Pride Grand Prix 2000 winner Mark Coleman, and won by submission in the first round.
After that, Fedor went against Coleman's training partner, Kevin "Monster" Randleman. A two-time NCAA Division I wrestling champion and former UFC champion, Randleman had by then recorded a knockout victory over one of the tournament favorites, Mirko Filipovic. In a fight with Emelianenko, Randleman demonstrated an incredibly spectacular deflection throw, which later will be included in almost all MMA highlights. However, Emelianenko still managed to win by forcing Randleman to knock in surrender.
On August 15, 2004, in the semifinals of the Grand Prix, Emelianenko met with six-time member of the Japanese judo team and Olympic silver medalist Naoya Ogawa. Fedor quickly turned the fight to the ground, where he held the “elbow lever”. The Nogueira-Emelianenko fight was supposed to not only determine the winner of the Grand Prix 2004, but also to unify Nogueira's interim champion title and Emelianenko's title. The meeting between the two fighters was very tense, but as a result of an unintentional, but still forbidden by the rules, clash of heads, Emelianenko opened a cut. As a result, the fight was declared invalid, and Emelianenko retained the champion title.
The third meeting between the fighters took place at Pride Shockwave 2004 on December 31, 2004. The Pride Heavyweight Championship and the 2004 Grand Prix Championship were again at stake. Unlike the first match, which took place mainly on the ground, Emelianenko, to the surprise of the enemy, preferred to fight in a stance and limited himself to judo throws. As a result, Emelianenko won by decision of the judges.
In April 2005, at Pride Bushido 6, Fedor avenged his first defeat to Tsuyoshi Kosaka by "destroying" his counterpart by technical knockout.
In the next fight, Emelianenko opposed the Croatian fighter Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovich. This fight can be safely called a “superfight”, since both fighters occupied the top lines in the ranking of the best heavyweights. The excitement for the fight was added by the fact that Mirko knocked out Fedor's younger brother, Alexander. The Emelianenko-Filipovich fight was supposed to take place at the end of 2003, however, speaking at Inoki Boom Ba Ye due to contractual disagreements, Fedor temporarily left Pride. Pride management organized a fight for the interim title between Filipović and Nogueira, in which the latter won. Subsequently, the meeting between Filipovic and Emelianenko was re-postponed when the Croat was unexpectedly knocked out by Kevin Randleman in the first round of the 2004 Grand Prix. This fight took place on August 28, 2005 at Pride Final Conflict. The fight was one of the best fights in MMA history, with Fedor taking a decision win to defend his Pride Heavyweight title.
On December 31, 2005, Emelianenko quickly defeated Zuluzinho by TKO at Pride Shockwave 2005.
The year 2006 began for Fedor with an operation on his arm in one of the clinics in St. Petersburg, where the athlete was installed in the place of the fracture of the plate and one needle. The rehabilitation period prescribed by the doctors lasted until June 24, when the plates were removed. Emelianenko's first fight after the operation took place on October 21 against Mark Coleman. The fight took place in Las Vegas as part of Pride 32, the first Pride event outside of Japan. Fedor again won by submission in the 2nd round.
The last defense of the Pride title by Fedor took place at Pride Shockwave 2006 against the 2001 K-1 champion, New Zealander Mark Hunt. Emelianenko was originally scheduled to meet Josh Barnett, but Barnett pulled out of the fight, saying he was not in the best physical shape. Since Mirko Filippovich underwent surgery on his leg on October 26 and could not take part in Shockwave 2006, Hunt became a candidate for the champion title, despite the fact that he himself was defeated by Barnett in June.
As a result, Fedor won by submission in the first round. This was Emelianenko's last fight under the auspices of Pride, as a few months later the organization went bankrupt, and its assets were bought out by its main competitor, the American UFC promotion.
Shortly before the breakup of Pride, Emelianenko took advantage of a clause in his contract allowing him to fight for other organizations, provided that the fight would take place on Russian territory, and accepted an offer from the BodogFight promotion. Emelianenko's rival was the American fighter Matt Lindland, a former Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling. For the fight with Emelianenko, Lindland had to gain 15 kilograms in order to move from the usual middle weight category to the heavy one.
The fight took place on April 14, 2007 at an event called "Clash of the Nations" (Clash of the Nations) in St. Petersburg, gathering among the audience a large number of celebrities, including Vladimir Putin, Silvio Berlusconi and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Fedor won by submission in the first round.
After that, Fedor signed a contract with M-1 Global. Emelianenko's next fight was on December 31, 2007 against the Korean "giant" Hong Man Choi. This fight was held under the auspices of the Japanese promotion "Yarennoka!" sponsored by M-1 Global, Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG) and Deep. Fedor won a spectacular victory by submission ("armbar") in the first round.
In April 2008, Emelianenko signed a contract with Affliction Entertainment, a subsidiary of clothing manufacturer Affliction. According to the contract, Emelianenko was supposed to take part in the debut event of the organization - "Affliction: Banned". Fedor's new rival was two-time ex-UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia.
The fight took place on July 19, 2008, and it took Fedor only 36 seconds to defeat Sylvia: Emelianenko unleashed a hail of punches on the American, after which he performed a choke hold from the back. In the next fight, Emelianenko met in the ring with another ex-UFC champion - Belarusian Andrey Orlovsky. The meeting between Emelianenko and Orlovsky became the main battle of the second card, organized by "Affliction", held under the name "Day of Reckoning", on January 24, 2009. At the beginning of the fight, Orlovsky seemed to be starting to take the initiative: Andrei managed effective combinations, however, apparently, inspired by early success, Orlovsky decided to finish the fight quickly and tried to break through with his knee in a jump. Forgetting about protection, he rushed at Fedor, and Emelianenko sent him into a deep knockout. Subsequently, this knockout was recognized as the "Best Knockout of 2009" according to the sports website Sherdog.
Emelianenko's next fight was supposed to be against Josh Barnett on August 1, 2009, at the Affliction: Trilogy tournament, however, the fight did not take place, as on July 22 Barnett was convicted of using anabolic steroids by the California Athletic Commission, as a result of which he lost his license to participation in battles. Soon the Affliction promotion itself ceased to exist.
After working with Affliction, Emelianenko signed a contract with another American MMA organization, Strikeforce, under a similar joint promotion scheme with M-1 Global. Company President Scott Cocker confirmed that the Emelianenko fight will take place on November 7 and will be broadcast on the national CBS television channel. Fedor's opponent was a heavyweight from Minnesota, Brett Rogers, who at that time had 10 wins and no losses. Despite the fact that a few months earlier, Rogers only fought in his spare time as a tire fitter, he made the MMA world take notice by knocking out Andrey Orlovsky in just 22 seconds. The battle was preceded by a grandiose information campaign, which even resulted in filming documentary film"Fight Camp 360°: Fedor vs Rogers". Emelianenko knocked out Rodgers in the 2nd round.
Emelianenko's next fight took place on June 26, 2010 against Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist and ADCC champion Fabricio Werdum. Before the fight, Werdum's chances were regarded by experts and fans as very low, but the Brazilian made a big upset, forcing Fedor to knock in surrender, holding a choke hold "triangle". This was Emelianenko's first undeniable defeat in his career. Subsequently, this technique was recognized as the "Best Choke of 2010" according to the site "Sherdog". After the fight, Werdum stated that he still considers Emelianenko the best fighter and his idol.
In early January 2011, it was announced that Fedor would take part in the Strikeforce Grand Prix tournament and his opponent in the first stage would be the Brazilian fighter Antonio Silva, nicknamed Bigfoot.
The fight, which took place on February 12, 2011, aroused increased interest of viewers: for the Russians, the live broadcast was conducted by the Russia-2 TV channel, for the Americans - by the cable TV channel Showtime, according to which during the broadcast of the fight only in front of the TV screens there were about 1,100,000 spectators.
Experiencing difficulties with the dimensions of his opponent, Fedor lost this fight by technical knockout, as he could not continue the fight after he had an extensive hematoma in his right eye, and, despite Fedor's desire to continue the fight, the doctors imposed a ban on this. Thus, Emelianenko dropped out of the tournament in the first stage and received his second defeat in a row.
On July 30, Fedor faced Dan Henderson, the former Pride middleweight champion and current Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, in a cage. A former two-time member of the US Greco-Roman wrestling team, Henderson, who competed in the 93 kg and 85 kg weight categories throughout his career, first tried himself in the heavy weight category, gaining the required 94 kilograms with difficulty.
Fedor lost by technical knockout in the first round. After the fight, Emelianenko said that the fight was stopped too early, and Henderson, who is a big fan of Fedor, called what happened one of the most serious achievements in his career.
On November 20, 2011, Emelianenko fought in Moscow for the first time: at USC Olimpiysky, he entered the ring against two-time ADCC champion Jeff Monson, nicknamed "Snowman" in the main fight of the evening "M-1 Global: Fedor vs Monson", broadcast live on the air of "Russia-2". Fedor won by decision in a rather one-sided fight.
On December 31, 2011, Fedor took part in the New Year's tournament Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011, where he performed in the main fight of the evening against the MMA novice, the 2008 Olympic judo champion, Satoshi Ishii. Fedor won by knockout in the first round.
On June 21, 2012, Emelianenko fought Brazilian Pedro Rizzo, a UFC veteran. Fedor won by knockout in the second minute of the first round. After the fight, Emelianenko announced his final decision to end his career in mixed martial arts.
Since the summer of 2012, Emelianenko has not competed in mixed martial arts tournaments, but continued to keep fit. On July 14, 2015, Fedor announced his return to the professional ring.
On September 20, 2015, Emelianenko announced that he had agreed with the former owner of the Pride organization on a duel scheduled for December 31, 2015 as part of the RIZIN New Year's show in Japan. Emelianenko's rival was Jaideep Singh, the winner of several prestigious kickboxing tournaments, who at that time won both of his professional fights according to MMA rules. In this fight, which took place on December 31, 2015, Emelianenko won in the first round.
On June 17, 2016, the fight took place with ex-UFC fighter Fabio Maldonado. In the first round, Fabio seriously shocked Fedor, catching him with two counter side punches to the jaw and managing to land a large number of strikes on the ground. In the two remaining rounds, Emelianenko leveled the fight and won the fight by majority decision: 28-28, 29-28, 29-28. Maldonado's headquarters did not agree with the verdict of the judges and filed an appeal with the MMA Union of Russia, where it was rejected, citing the "40-minute rule", according to which the appeal must be filed no later than 40 minutes after the end of the fight. This decision caused an outcry in the headquarters of Maldonado, who suggested that the decision could be influenced by the fact that Emelianenko is the president of the Union. The Soyuz also refused to consider the appeal, citing WMMAA rules applicable to amateur rather than professional fights. Later, Soyuz vice-president Radmir Gabdullin said that, as an exception, Fabio's appeal would still be considered by the World MMA Association (WMMAA). In addition, the WMMAA organized an independent commission of three judges, who, after watching the fight, unanimously concluded that a draw (28-28) would be a fair result and canceled Emelianenko's victory. The commission pointed out a possible conflict of interest and considered the fight a professional fight, which excluded the "40 minute rule", but the Russian MMA Association refused to review the decision on the fight.
On November 19, 2016, during the broadcast of the Bellator 165 tournament, it was announced that Emelianenko had signed a multi-fight contract with the Bellator MMA promotion.
On November 20, 2016, information appeared that Emelianenko would fight Matt Mitrione on February 18, 2017 at the Bellator 172 tournament. However, this fight was canceled because Mitrione started having health problems (kidney stones) a few hours before the tournament.
The fight "Emelianenko-Mitrio" has been postponed to the Bellator 180 tournament, which will be held on June 24, 2017 in New York.
