Template:MMAstatsbox Fedor Emelianenko (IPA: ['fʲodər jemilʲja'nʲenkə], Russian: Фёдор Емельяненко), born September 28,1976, is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist and the current PRIDE World Heavyweight Champion. He has been the reigning heavyweight champion in PRIDE since March 16, 2003.

Emeliananeko has been considered the best heavyweight fighter in the world for the last four years by many major MMA publications,^[1][2][3][4] with notable wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mirko Filipović, Mark Hunt, Mark Coleman and, most recently, over Matt Lindland. He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the PRIDE 2004 Grand Prix, and the World Combat Sambo Championship on three occasions.

Biography

Fedor Emelianenko was born in 1976 in Rubezhnoe, Luhansk, part of the Luhansk Oblast region,^[5] presently a part of Ukraine (part of the Soviet Union at the time). His family moved to Stary Oskol, Russia in 1978. His mother, Olga Feodorovna, is a teacher and his father, Vladimir Alexandrovich, is a gas-electric welder. Emelianenko is the second child in the family and has an older sister, Marina, and two younger brothers, Aleksander (born 1981) and Ivan (born 1988). Aleksander is also a mixed martial artist, and Ivan is currently in training, although he doesn't train at the the level at which his brothers do.^[6][7]

Emelianenko finished high school in 1991 and graduated with honors from a professional trade school in 1994. From 1995 until 1997, he served in the Russian Army as a military firefighter.^[8]

In 1999 he married his wife, Oksana, who had their first daughter, Masha, in the same year.^[5] In his spare time, he likes the sun and going to the beach. He has stated he likes reading, music, and art, and some of his paintings can be viewed on his official website.^[9]

Martial arts background & training regimen

Emelianenko's enthusiasm for fighting began with Sambo and Judo. He initially trained under Vasiliy Ivanovich Gavrilov, and later under his current coach, Vladimir Mihailovich Voronov. Voronov remembers that ten-year-old Fedor was relatively weak physically and did not have an innate grappling talent; instead, his biggest strength was his perseverance and strong will.^[10]

Emeliananko's official biography erroneously states that he trained in Sambo during his army years. However, Fedor has specified in his 2005 Amsterdam interview^{[citation needed]} that this is incorrect, and his training in the army was limited to running and strength training in a makeshift gym he put together himself.

In 1997, Emelianenko received the official certification of a "Master of Sports" in Sambo and Judo and became part of the Russian national team.^[11] Fedor earned a bronze medal in the 1998 Russian Judo Championship. In 2000, he started studying striking with arms and legs under coach Alexander Vasilievich Michkov.^[7] Fedor started competing in combat sambo and mixed martial arts in 2000, because he "didn't have any money".^[12]

Fedor used to weight train extensively, but in 1999 he almost completely substituted his weight exercises with sport-specific training in grappling, boxing and kickboxing.^[7] His strength training consists of daily pull-ups, push ups on parallel bars, and crunches.^[13] Emelianenko also runs 12-15 kilometers (7.5 - 9.3 miles) every day.^[14] Fedor is a proponent of high altitude training, and he travels to Kislovodsk, Russia with his team once or twice a year to train in high altitude.

Fedor's team consists of coach Voronov (grappling), coach Michkov (boxing), coach Ruslan Nagnibeda (Muay Thai), Oleg Neustroev (doctor, masseuse and psychologist all in one), and his training partners, including Roman Zentsov, another PRIDE fighter, and, until June 2006, Fedor's brother, Aleksander Emelianenko^[15].

In 2005 Emelianenko started paying special attention to improving his kicking technique. He trained Muay Thai with kickboxer Ernesto Hoost in Netherlands,^[16] and added a Muay Thai coach, Ruslan Nagnibeda, “Seikin-do” league 78 kg title holder from 1998 to 2002 (33-3-1) and a former Tula State University Muay Thai instructor, to his team. Recently, Emelianenko has expressed interest in training young athletes.^[17][7]

RINGS

Emelianenko's only loss in MMA came at the hands of Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at the King of Kings 2000 Block B event on December 22 2000, via doctor stoppage due to a cut 17 seconds into the fight.^[5][18] The cut was caused by an elbow strike, reopening a cut sustained in his previous fight against Ricardo Arona, a blow illegal under RINGS rules unless the striker is wearing elbow pads.^[19] Since the fight was in a tournament format, a winner and loser was required as no draws or no contests could be awarded. Since Emelianenko could not advance due to his injury, Kohsaka moved on (the match would have been a no contest or disqualification victory for Emelianenko otherwise). He avenged the loss at the PRIDE Bushido 6 event on April 3 2005, defeating Kohsaka by technical knockout when the ring doctor stopped the fight after the first round.

PRIDE Fighting Championships

Emelianenko debuted at PRIDE 21 on June 23 2002 against the 6'11, 256 lbs (211 cm, 116 kg) Dutch 2005 and 2006 K-1 World Champion Semmy Schilt, whom he defeated by unanimous decision. His next opponent was heavyweight Heath Herring, in a contest for a shot at the heavyweight belt. Emelianenko, considered an underdog at the time, defeated Herring by doctor stoppage after the first round due to strikes to the head. This impressive victory against perrenial contender Herring catapulted Fedor into elite status.

Emelianenko was then signed to fight heavily favored Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for PRIDE's heavyweight championship title at PRIDE 25 on 16 March 2003. After dominating the champion for three rounds, the judges rendered a unanimous decision, and Emelianenko became the second PRIDE Heavyweight Champion.

Three months later Emelianenko embarked on his, as yet undefeated, four year title defense. His first match was against the former IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, amateur and professional wrestler Kazuyuki “Ironhead” Fujita. A heavy favorite, Emelianenko was expected to make quick work of Fujita, but was caught by with a wild right hook that stunned him. Emelianenko was able to work his way to a clinch to recover his composure. He then knocked Fujita down and went on to submit him at 4:17 in the first round with a rear naked choke.

Next came a one-sided bout against Gary “Big Daddy” Goodridge at PRIDE Total Elimination 2003. Emelianenko dominated the veteran MMA fighter with a ground and pound technique, winning in the first round by referee stoppage after delivering a flurry of uncountered strikes to Goodridge on the ground. Emelianenko broke his hand in this fight,^[20] resulting in him having to undergo surgery. He has since reinjured this hand, leading to the postponement of several bouts.

His next fight against New Japan pro wrestler Yuji Nagata at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 ended the same way, but with Emelianenko first knocking Nagata to the ground twice with well-timed punches. Emelianenko fought at this event as opposed to the PRIDE Shockwave 2003 event on the same day due to being offered a higher fight purse because of the great deal of competition between the Japanese television networks screening these events and K-1 Premium Dynamite!! on the same night.[1]

Four months later at PRIDE Total Elimination 2004 he met PRIDE tournament winner and former UFC heavyweight champion Mark Coleman for the first time in the ring and submitted him with an armbar at 2:11 of the first round to proceed in the 2004 Pride heavyweight tournament. Emelianenko has indicated his respect for Coleman, who popularised the ground and pound technique that has become Emelianenko's trademark.

A notable match with Coleman’s protégé Kevin “The Monster” Randleman followed just two months later at the tournament second round, PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004. Randleman, a two time Division I NCAA Wrestling Champion for Ohio State University and a former UFC heavyweight champion, used his aggressive style to quickly work into a clinch with Emelianenko and then deliver a dazzling suplex, slamming the Russian to the canvas headfirst. Emelianenko quickly recovered and forced Randleman to submit with a kimura armlock only 1:33 into the first round.

On 15 August 2004, Emelianenko faced 6-time All-Japan Judo Champion Naoya Ogawa and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at PRIDE Final Conflict 2004 for the semi final and final of the tournament. Quickly submitting the outmatched Ogawa with an armbar, he faced Nogueira who had won a decision against Emelianenko's former teammate, Sergei Kharitonov earlier that night. In this rematch with Nogueira, the fight was stopped due to a cut to Emelianenko's head from an accidental headbutt he delivered to Nogueira. A third rematch was thus scheduled for PRIDE Shockwave 2004, which was won by Emelianenko by unanimous decision.

In other notable bouts, Emelianenko won a unanimous decision over former K-1 star Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, a bout he calls his toughest to date.^[21] The fight had been delayed previously due to Emelianenko's hand injuries and Cro Cop's loss to Kevin Randleman derailing their expected tournament meeting at PRIDE Final Conflict 2004. Surprising many observers, Emelianenko managed to dominate Cro Cop in stand up fighting, landing many hard body shots, and controlled the bout on the ground. He has later stated that his hand injury took away his grip strength and so prevented him from trying submissions.

A rematch with American Mark Coleman in Pride's debut show in America resulted in a thoroughly dominated fight by the Russian champion. Coleman was unable to mount any offense as Fedor's strikes and ground control were simply too much for the MMA veteran out of Ohio.

Emelianenko's most recent title defense was against former K-1 champion Mark Hunt at PRIDE Shockwave 2006. Sporting a broken toe during the contest, Emelianenko nevertheless secured an armbar in the second minute of the first round, but Hunt was able to escape and counter by stepping over Emelianenko, ending in the sidemount position. At five minutes into the first round Hunt made two attempts at an Americana on Emelianenko’s left arm but failed to cinch them in. In the end, Emelianenko submitted Hunt with a Kimura at 8:16 in the first round.

BodogFight

With a special clause in his PRIDE contract that allowed him to fight under the banner of any mixed martial arts organization as long as the event was held on Russian soil, Emelianenko accepted a match in BodogFight against Matt Lindland. The fight was held on April 14, 2007 at the "Clash of the Nations" event in St. Petersburg, Russia. Lindland moved up two weight classes (from middleweight to heavyweight for the match and came in weighing 218 lbs. to Emelianenko's 233. Early in the fight, Lindland opened a cut above Emelianenko's left eye and clinched with him, pushing him against the ropes and seemingly working towards a takedown. Lindland eventually used a bodylock and attempted to take Emelianenko down. The takedown was reversed, though, and Emelianenko landed on top of Lindland. Emelianenko won by submission via an armbar at 2:58 of the first round.

Some controversy arose over Emelianenko's perceived holding of the ropes several times during the match, perhaps culminating in using them to bring about the reversal during Lindland's takedown attempt. The referee can be heard warning Fedor about this several times during the match, and was exacerbated by post-fight interviews by Lindland and training partner Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou^{[citation needed]} where they complained that the referee allowed the rope grabbing to happen by not penalizing Emelianenko. Others see this as a non issue because they believe that Emelianenko's arm was not holding or gripping the rope, but rather just laying on top of it or pushing off of it.^{[citation needed]}

Club affiliation

Fedor Emelianenko began his mixed martial arts as a member of Russian Top Team, training with the "first generation" of Russian RINGS competitors, such as Volk Han and Andrey Kopylov. After winning his PRIDE Heavyweight title, a rift grew between Fedor and the manager of RTT, Vladimir Evgenevich Pogodin. According to Emelianenko, Pogodin, who held the position of vice-president in the World Sambo Federation, attempted to control Emelianenko's career through threats and abuse of his position to deny 'master of sport' titles to Fedor and his brother Aleksander, in addition to financial disputes between Pogodin and Emelianenko, with Fedor alleging he was deceived by Pogodin.^[22] After his bout with Gary Goodridge, the Emelianenko brothers left Russian Top Team and began to train with the St. Petersburg based Red Devil Sport Club, which is managed by Vadim Finklestein. To date, Finklestein is still Fedor Emelianenko's manager.

Mixed martial arts record

As of June 2007, Emelianenko has compiled an amateur record of seven wins without any losses^[23] and a professional record of 27 wins, one loss, and one no contest, with six by knockout and fourteen by submission.^[24][25]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

Status	Date	Championship	Weight	Location
Champion	2003 - present	PRIDE World Championship	Heavyweight	Yokohama, Japan
Winner	2004	PRIDE Grand Prix Tournament	Heavyweight	Saitama, Japan
Winner	2002	RINGS Kings of Kings Tournament	Heavyweight	Yokohama, Japan
Winner	2001	RINGS World Class Tournament	Open weight	Yokohama, Japan

Judo

Status	Date	Championship	Weight	Location
7th	April 1, 2000	Dutch Grand Prix[26]	100 kg	Rotterdam, Netherlands
3rd	February 7, 1999	Sofia Liberation[26]	100 kg A-Team	Sofia, Bulgaria
3rd	January 24, 1999	Moscow International Tournament[26]	100 kg	Moscow, Russia
3rd	December 5, 1998	Russian National Championships[26]	Open weight	Kstovo, Russia

Sambo

Status	Date	Championship	Weight	Location
Winner	2007	Russian Combat Sambo Championships[27]		Buryat Republic, Russia
Winner	2006	Russian Combat Sambo Championships[27]		Buryat Republic, Russia
Winner	2005	World Combat Sambo Championships	Heavyweight	Prague, Czech Republic
Winner	2002	World Combat Sambo Championships	Open weight	Panama
Winner	2002	World Combat Sambo Championships	Heavyweight	Thessaloniki, Greece
Winner	2002	Russian Combat Sambo Championships		Moscow, Russia

Honorary titles and apellations

• Wrestling Observer Newsletter 2005 Shootfighter of the Year^[28]
• Sherdog 2005 #1 Pound for Pound Fighter in the World^[29]
• Full Contact Fighter #1 Heavyweight Fighter in the World^[2]
• MMAWeekly 2006 and 2007 #1 Heavyweight Fighter in the World^[1]

See also

• List of male mixed martial artists
• List of PRIDE champions

References

External links

• Fedor Emelianenko's official website
• New York Times article covering Emelianenko and the sport
• Interview about the first round of the PRIDE Open Weight GP

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