Recently, mixed-style fighters have become increasingly popular and can already compete in this part with professional boxers. Probably the most legendary and respected among them is Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko, whose statistics of battles cannot but amaze the imagination. He never avoided fights with the most powerful rivals and at the same time for almost ten years he did not know defeats, remaining an undefeated champion. Fights of Fyodor Vladimirovich Emelianenko always caused huge spectator excitement, and he himself long ago became an idol and a role model for many young fighters.
Chess player in the ring
For each MMA fighter, a balance between wrestling and striking is required. Fyodor Emelianenko’s battle style is characterized by the fact that the Russian rival is constantly in tension, not knowing what to expect from him in the next second. A native of Lugansk specialized in sambo and judo. He feels great during the fight, but Fedor's blows are a formidable weapon. The boxing style of Emelianenko has its own distinctive features: he almost never uses jabs, using side shots with a wide circular amplitude. Acting in a stance, he prefers to work with his hands and rarely resorts to kicking. However, depending on the opponent, he is able to rebuild and inflict significant damage on him even with restraining low-kicks. So, for example, in a duel with Jeff Monson, after one of these strikes by Fedor, the American suffered a broken leg.
Nevertheless, the visiting card of Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko, whose growth (183 cm) is relatively small for his weight category, is his painful and suffocating tricks from the sambo and judo arsenal. In addition, very often, overturning an opponent, he successfully rains down on him a hail of powerful blows from the top position and knocks out. Emelyanenko’s composure was always struck during his fights. He never gives in to emotions and in the most difficult moments of the battle he is able to calculate the situation in a split second and instantly make the best decision. Many of his victories were obtained in situations where the opponent seemed to dominate and was on the verge of victory.
A bit about the life of a fighter
Even the shortest biography of Fyodor Vladimirovich Emelianenko will take many pages from any bona fide sports historian. One of the best MMA fighters of all time has gone a long way in sports to his world fame. Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko (born in 1976) was born in the Lugansk region in an ordinary working-class family. The brothers Fedor Alexander and Ivan also followed in his footsteps and engaged in mixed martial arts. The male company is diluted by the older sister of Fedor Marina. Soon, a large family moved to Belgorod, where parents and their four children huddled in the room of a communal apartment. Fedor began to practice sports at the age of ten; he gave preference to sambo and judo. Together with him, the training was attended by his younger brother Alexander, who will also become a professional fighter.
From 1995 to 1997, the future sport legend faithfully pays his debt to his homeland in the Russian army, first in the fire departments, and then in the tank division. After the service, Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko continued active sports, which became his profession. He married in 1999 to a girl whom he met at the training camp. The daughter of Masha was born to Fedor and Oksana, but this did not save them from a divorce in 2006. A second marriage followed with a longtime girlfriend Marina, thanks to whom Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko became the father of two more daughters - Vasilisa and Elizaveta. However, in 2013, the legendary athlete returned to his first wife, whom he even married in church.
First steps in sports
The first coach of Fedor was Vasily Gavrilov, thanks to whom Emelianenko mastered the basics of judo and sambo. Soon he entered a sports class at the Youth Sports School, where he began to train under the leadership of Vladimir Voronov. According to the latter, in his childhood, Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko did not stand out among his peers as a special talent and made great progress solely due to his perseverance and hard work.
After the army service, he continued to actively engage in sports, focusing specifically on sambo. Having won the prestigious international tournament, he received the MSMK badge. Feodor Emelianenko felt like a fish in water in combat sambo. In 1998, he became the second medalist at the national championship among military personnel. Soon he received an invitation to the Russian national team, in which he managed to win the European Team Championship. However, at a certain point, Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko still decided to leave the team and focused on MMA fights, explaining this by the need to earn a living for himself and his children.
Champion climbing
To test his strengths in mixed martial arts, Fedor Emelianenko first began to hone his boxing skills under the guidance of his current coach Alexander Michkov. In 2000, he joined the Russian Top Team club, which at that time was headed by Vladimir Pogodin, and focused on performances in MMA. Three years later, Fedor left this club, explaining his decision by the director’s dishonesty.
The first organization involved in the preparation of mixed-style fights for Fedor Emelianenko was the Japanese company RINGS. Under her flag, he spent 11 fights, managing during this time to become a two-time world champion in heavyweight. The best fights of Fedor Emelianenko were still ahead, however, it was in those years that he won fame and popularity in the world of MMA.
In 2002, he suffered his first defeat from Japanese fighter Tsuyoshi Kosaki. However, many experts refuse to count Fedor’s lost fights from this moment. During the battle, the Japanese gave the Russian a cut with a forbidden blow, and he could not continue the match and further participate in the round-robin tournament. However, the judges awarded the victory to the Japanese in order to determine the fighter from this pair who would go to the next stage. The weight of Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko allowed him to take part in fights against the most difficult rivals and fight for the champion title in the absolute weight category. The last time he won the championship belt according to RINGS in 2002, after which the Japanese organization ceased to exist.
Partnership with Pride
At the beginning of the 2000s, the UFC was not yet considered the leader in the world of mixed martial arts, and Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko preferred cooperation with the then largest organization Pride. The debut fight under the auspices of the new company Fedor fought against the giant Dutchman Samy Schilt and defeated him by unanimous decision. Then he overcame the resistance of American Heath Hering, who at that time was considered a favorite. Having transferred the battle to the stalls, the Russian athlete brought down a hail of blows and completed the match ahead of schedule.
Countdown of the best fights of Fedor Emelianenko can begin with a match against Antonio Nogueira. The Brazilian master jiu-jitsu was considered almost invincible and the main contender for the championship belt. However, that evening Fedor was unstoppable. Emelianenko managed to knock down the Brazilian with a powerful blow and take a dominant position in the stalls. In this position, he brought down an opponent of hail of finishing blows from above and stunned Nogueira. The jiu-jitsu specialist tried to hold painful tricks, but the sambo master was on the alert and brought the fight to victory. So Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko became the world champion according to Pride.
Fights with Nogueira
In 2004, the Russian met twice with Nogueira, who longed for revenge. The first match ended in a mutual dissection and was declared invalid. The Brazilian claimed that Fedor Emelianenko deliberately went for it in order to avoid defeat. The cold-blooded fighter from the Belgorod region stood silent and preferred to continue the fight in the ring, without getting involved in the exchange of insults.
The second battle was very stubborn. Fedor understood that it was very risky to fight in the stalls against a jujitsu specialist and avoided his dangerous passes to his feet. Emelianenko fought in a stance and methodically treated Nogueira with strikes from a distance, effectively defending himself against attempts by the latter to move closer. As a result, the Brazilian plan failed, and Fedor won a landslide victory.
Epic battle with Mirko Crocop
The main event of 2005 in the world of mixed martial arts was, of course, a duel between Emelianenko and Mirko Filipovich, nicknamed "Krokop". The Croatian fighter moved to MMA from K-1 and was famous for his killer blow from both legs. In one of the fights, he inflicted a crushing defeat on Fyodor’s brother Alexander, so meeting with a Croat became a matter of honor for Emelianenko.
The long-awaited battle began not so easily for the Russian fighter. Horvath threw some precise jabs and smashed Fyodor's nose. He also constantly threw out his deadly kicks, and as a result, Emelianenko had a hematoma on his chest. Nevertheless, the Russian athlete continued to bend his line and, by the last round, exhausted the Croatian with constant clinching and struggle. In the last round, Filipovich was unable to resist and simply fled from the powerful blows of Fedor. After 20 minutes of exhausting confrontation, victory was unanimously awarded to Fedor Emelianenko.
Going under the M-1 banner and conflict with the UFC
Aggressive marketing policies and competition from the UFC led to the bankruptcy of Pride and the subsequent redemption of its remains by the American organization Zuffa, which was headed by Dana White. Fedor Emelianenko by that time was considered the best MMA fighter, regardless of weight category, and the UFC owners did their best to lure the Russian fighter to him.
However, Dana White did not want to share future profits with anyone and imposed on Fedor Emelianenko an enslaving contract that put an end to his cooperation with the Red Devil club. The owner of the latter, Vadim Filkenstein, tried to agree on attracting the rest of the club's fighters to the UFC, as well as on holding tournaments under the joint auspices of Red Devil and UFC. However, Dana White was adamant and opposed the participation of Fedor Emelianenko in fights under the auspices of other companies, as well as in sambo tournaments.
All this ended with the negotiations stalled, and the UFC did not receive the best heavyweight of those years. After that, the Russian announced the beginning of cooperation with the organization M-1. Her “father” was the same Vadim Filkenstein, and she was largely created under Fedor Emelianenko. The main advantage for him was the opportunity to play in various tournaments and complete freedom of action. In addition, he was one of the owners of the company and owned 8.5 percent of its shares.
The Great Victories of The Last Emperor
In 2007, one of the most spectacular fights with the participation of Fedor Emelianenko took place. The "Last Emperor" was challenged by the Technogoliath. This was the name of a very prominent Korean fighter who came to MMA from K-1. With a height of 218 cm, he weighed 160 kg, and millions of viewers around the world were eagerly waiting for Fedor Emelianenko to fight such a giant.
In the first seconds of the battle, fans of the Last Emperor were seriously worried about their idol, because it seemed that the opponent was too huge for him. The first attempt to hold a wrestling reception ended with the huge Korean simply pushing Fedor to the ring with his mass. However, he was not discouraged and with a left hook confused Choi Hong. Entering the clinch, Fedor again tried to dump the Korean, and when the fighters were on the floor, Emelianenko conducted a painful reception of the elbow and forced the opponent to surrender.
After defeating Technogoliath, Fedor Vladimirovich met with former UFC champion Tim Sylvia for the title of world champion according to WAMMA. Before the start of the battle, he attacked the Russian citizen with a hail of insults, promising to defeat him in a matter of seconds, but Fedor kept his cool and calm for battle. Spectators eagerly awaited a hot battle, but it all ended in the first minute. Fedor literally crushed Sylvia with a series of strokes, and then held a lightning-fast suffocating reception from the back and won.
Emelianenko defended the championship belt in a match against another UFC fighter - Andrei Orlovsky. The Belarusian respected the great fighter and did not allow himself extra words before meeting him. However, in the ring, all respect was forgotten, and Andrei Orlovsky rushed off to win. At first, everything went well for him - the strikes reached the goal. In euphoria, Orlovsky flew to finish off an opponent and frivolously opened up when he tried to hit with a knee. In response, he received a powerful right-hand cross on the counter and collapsed like a knock-down.
Black series Emelianenko
Everything comes to an end, the end of the impressive victory series of Emelianenko has come. In 2010, he lost for the first time in his career. Brazilian Fabrizio Werdum called himself a fan of Fedor, but he was able to become the first fighter who managed to catch a Russian at a strangulation. It seemed that it was an unfortunate misfire, because during the fight Fedor was able to shock the enemy with a strong blow and was a step away from the victory.
However, he soon suffered a second defeat in a row. Antonio Silva in one of the rounds of the battle with Emelianenko managed to overturn him and began to deliver finishing shots on the ground. A hematoma formed, and the judges defeated Fedor.
The American Dan Henderson was also a fan of Emelianenko and became the third consecutive fighter who defeated the Last Emperor. Possessing a strong shock technique, the former middleweight managed to inflict a powerful uppercut on the Russian, after which he began to finish him off. The judges stopped the fight and awarded the victory to the American.
The years are taking their toll, and Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko, having spent several successful battles after a series of defeats, in 2012 announced his retirement. However, he soon got bored of retiring, and in 2015 he returned to the ring. To warm up, Fedor chose the former kickboxer Jadip Singh as his rival, who he defeated without much difficulty. However, in 2016, he had already met with a serious opponent. Fabio Maldonado in the debut of the battle managed to suppress Emelianenko, and he was one step away from defeat. However, the experienced fighter in the next rounds leveled off and achieved the final victory, which many considered controversial. Now everyone is looking forward to new fights with the participation of Fedor Emelianenko, whose awards only to a small extent reflect the importance and status that he has in modern sports.