Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko was born on 28 September 1976. He is a Russian former professional mixed martial artist, sambist, judoka, and politician. Emelianenko held the PRIDE Heavyweight Championship from 2003 until the promotion shut down in 2007. He also won the combat sambo world championship four times and the national championship seven times, and earned two bronze medals at the Russian national judo championships. His MMA career included stints in RINGS, Strikeforce, M-1 Global, Rizin, and Bellator. He is often called the most notable fighter who never entered the UFC. Many consider him one of the greatest MMA fighters ever; he was consistently ranked the top heavyweight from 2003 to 2010 and the best fighter of the 2000s. His career boosted the popularity of MMA in Russia after drawing attention in Japan, South Korea, the United States, and elsewhere.

Emelianenko started his MMA career on 21 May 2000. He won his first four fights before a disputed loss in December 2000. He then went unbeaten for 28 bouts until June 2010. During that streak, he defeated four former UFC champions, one future Strikeforce champion, two PRIDE champions, one former and two future K-1 champions, one Pancrase champion, and two Olympic medalists. He first retired in June 2012 with 34 wins and 4 losses, but returned in December 2015. His second and final retirement came on 4 February 2023, with a record of 40 wins, 7 losses, and 1 no contest. Seven of those wins were over former UFC champions (including one interim champion). Fight Matrix ranks him as the greatest heavyweight in MMA history and the fourth greatest pound-for-pound fighter ever.

Emelianenko entered politics in 2010 when he was elected a deputy of the Belgorod Regional Duma. He later became president of the Russian MMA Union, then its honorary president and chairman of the supervisory board. He also served as a staff member of Russia’s Council of Physical Fitness and Sports.

Emelianenko was born in Rubizhne, Luhansk Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union. In 1978, when he was two, his family moved to Stary Oskol, Belgorod, in the Russian SFSR. His mother, Olga Fedorovna, was a teacher; his father, Vladimir Alexandrovich, was a welder.

At age 11, he began training in sambo and judo under Vasily Ivanovich Gavrilov. A year later, he joined sport classes taught by Vladimir Voronov, who later said Emelianenko did not stand out at first but succeeded through years of hard work and perseverance. Voronov died in August 2020 from complications of coronavirus.

Emelianenko finished high school in 1991 and graduated with honors from a professional trade school as an electrician in 1994. From 1995 to 1997, he served in the Russian Army as a military firefighter and then in a tank division near Nizhny Novgorod. His parents divorced during this period.

In 1997, he earned the “Master of Sport” certification in judo and sambo. He joined the Russian national team and won an international judo tournament in Kursk that year. His partial judo record from 1999 to 2000 was 12 wins and 7 losses. In 1999, he placed third at both the Moscow International Tournament and the Sofia Liberation A-Team tournament. In 2000, short on money, he left the national team to compete professionally in MMA.

Emelianenko began his MMA career with Russian Top Team (RTT), a stable linked to Fighting Network RINGS, where he trained under senior members like Volk Han and Andrei Kopylov. After his fight with Gary Goodridge, he and his brother left RTT and started training in St. Petersburg with Red Devil Sport Club, managed by Vadim Finkelchtein. Finkelchtein remained his manager until his first retirement in mid-2012. Emelianenko also trained at the VOS gym in the Netherlands with Johan Vos and Lucien Carbin, and worked with fighters such as Ernesto Hoost, Tyrone Spong, and Denis Lebedev.

His first loss came in a controversial bout against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at the King of Kings 2000 Block B event on 22 December 2000. The fight was stopped by a doctor due to a cut 17 seconds in. Footage showed the cut came from a missed looping punch where Kohsaka’s elbow hit Emelianenko’s head. Emelianenko said the elbow reopened a cut from his previous fight against Ricardo Arona. The controversy arose because elbow strikes were illegal for that event.

After defeating Renato Sobral in an elimination bout, Emelianenko was scheduled to fight Bobby Hoffman for the World Heavyweight Class Championship that same night. Hoffman refused, claiming a shoulder injury from his previous match, and forfeited. Emelianenko won by default and received the RINGS Heavyweight Class Championship.

Entering PRIDE after winning the RINGS King of Kings 2002 tournament, Emelianenko made his debut at Pride 21 on 23 June 2002 against the 6 ft 11 in, 256 lb Dutch fighter Semmy Schilt. He won by unanimous decision. His next opponent was heavyweight Heath Herring, in a match to determine the number-one contender. Emelianenko, seen as an underdog, dominated Herring with ground-and-pound and won by doctor stoppage after the first round. He was then signed to fight for the PRIDE Heavyweight Championship.