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Fedor Emelianenko

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Template:MMAstatsbox Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko (IPA: ['fʲodər jemilʲja'nʲenkə], Template:Lang-ru, sometimes romanized as Fyodor Yemelyanenko) (born September 28, 1976) is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist, the current World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts Heavyweight Champion and the last holder of the Pride Heavyweight Championship.

Emelianenko has been considered the best heavyweight fighter in the world for the last six years by many major publications, including ESPN, the Orange County Register, The Fight Network, the Houston Chronicle, The Wrestling Observer, Sherdog, and Inside MMA. Emelianenko was also chosen as the greatest fighter of all time across all weight classes by the expert panel of the television show "Inside MMA".

He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the Pride 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo Championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo championship.

Biography

Fedor Emelianenko was born in 1976 in the city of Rubizhne, Luhansk of the Ukrainian SSR, then part of the Soviet Union. His family moved to Stary Oskol, Belgorod of the Russian SFSR in 1978. His mother, Olga Fedorovna, was a teacher and his father, Vladimir Alexandrovich Emelianenko, was a welder. Emelianenko is the second child in the family and has an older sister and two younger brothers, including professional mixed martial artist Aleksander Emelianenko. His brother Ivan is currently in training, although he does not compete at his brothers' level.

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. In 1999, he married his wife Oksana, and their first daughter Masha was born in the same year. In 2006, Emelianenko broke up with his wife and started a new family with his girlfriend Marina. On December 29, 2007, his second daughter Vasilisa was born. In his spare time, he likes to read, listen to music and draw.

Martial arts background and training regimen

Emelianenko demonstrates his ground and pound style at a 2006 seminar in Atlantic City.

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.

Emelianenko's official biography erroneously states that he trained in Sambo during his army years. However, he has specified in a 2005 interview 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. In 1998, after earning a bronze medal in the Russian Judo Championship, he started studying striking with arms and legs under coach Alexander Vasilievich Michkov. Emelianenko started competing in combat sambo and mixed martial arts in 2000 at the age of 25, because he "didn't have any money".

Emelianenko trains two or three times per day to maintain and improve his skills. He particularly utilizes basic training methods like running, ropes, and deadweightlifting. Emelianenko used to weight train extensively, but in 1997 he almost completely substituted his weight exercises with sport-specific training in grappling, boxing, and kickboxing. His strength training consists of daily pull-ups, dips on parallel bars, and crunches. Emelianenko also runs twice a day every day for a combined distance of 12–15 kilometers (7-10 miles), and is a proponent of high altitude training, travelling to Kislovodsk, Russia with his team once or twice a year to train in high altitude. Emelianenko's team consists of grappling coach Voronov, boxing coach Michkov, Muay Thai coach Ruslan Nagnibeda, doctor, masseur and psychologist Oleg Neustroev, his training partners, including Roman Zentsov, and, until June 2006, his brother Aleksander.

In 2005 Emelianenko started paying special attention to improving his kicking technique. He trained Muay Thai with kickboxer Ernesto Hoost in Netherlands, 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.

In November 2007, Emelianenko competed once again in the World Combat Sambo Championships, which brought together 780 representatives from 45 countries. When his opponent in the quarterfinals failed to show up, he received a bye to the semifinals, where he submitted a Bulgarian fighter with a choke in 40 seconds. The other finalist declined to compete, defaulting victory to Emelianenko.

In an interview, Emelianenko said he doesn't consider himself to be the best pound-for-pound fighter. Saying "I don’t consider myself on top of the pedestal. I have certain weaknesses and I make certain mistakes. Of course, that is frustrating, because like any athlete, I strive to get better each day. I know a lot of the media and the fans want to say I’m the best. I appreciate that, but that’s not how I consider myself."

Club affiliation

Part of the series on
Russian martial arts
Types

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 Emelianenko 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 Sports" titles to Fedor and his brother Aleksander, in addition to financial disputes between Pogodin and Emelianenko, with Fedor alleging he was deceived by Pogodin. 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 his manager. Emelianenko is also a member of the VOS gym in Holland, where he trains with Johan Vos and Lucien Carbin.

Rings

Emelianenko's only loss in the sport is controversial, and 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. Footage shows that the cut was caused by a missed looping punch where Kohsaka's elbow struck Emelianenko's head. Elbow strikes are illegal under Rings rules unless the striker is wearing elbow pads, which Kohsaka wasn't. Emelianenko says that this elbow reopened a cut sustained in his previous fight against Ricardo Arona. Since the fight was in a tournament format, a winner and loser was required as draws or no contests could not 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).


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 lb (99 kg) to Emelianenko's 233 lb (106 kg).

Early in the fight, Lindland opened a cut above Emelianenko's left eye and clinched with him, pushing him into the corner and working for a takedown. At this point, the referee warned Emelianenko against grabbing the ropes and Emelianenko corrected himself. After a few seconds of working in the clinch, Lindland attempted a bodylock takedown. When Lindland lifted Emelianenko from his feet, Emelianenko reversed Lindland's takedown and landed in his half guard, the fight remained on the ground where Emelianenko won by submission via armbar at 2:58 of the first round. .

M-1 Global

Since the purchase of Pride by the majority owners of UFC and the expiration of Emelianenko's contract with Pride, there has been speculation about the possibility of him fighting in the UFC, especially since a public falling out between Bodog's Calvin Ayre and Emelianenko's manager, Vadim Finklestein. In a June 2007 interview with the Baltimore Sun, Chuck Liddell suggested that Emelianenko was on his way to the UFC. Dana White has also expressed interest in signing Emelianenko, but considers his management team to be the primary barrier left to the inking of a contract, whereas Finklestein has cited difficult negotiations as the reason. A main point of contention between the two is Finkelstein's request for the UFC to work with his Russian M-1 promotion, extending contractual offers to other members of the Red Devil Sport Club, and permitting Emelianenko to compete in combat sambo tournaments. At UFC 76 however, UFC president Dana White stated that he expected Emelianenko to sign with the UFC in late 2007 or early 2008, after Emelianenko was to compete in a Sambo competition that White would not allow him to participate in if he were under a UFC contract. He also revealed his intent to set up a unification bout with UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture as his first UFC fight. Nevertheless, these negotiations broke down, as Emelianenko committed to a non-exclusive, two-year and six-fight deal with M-1 Global in October 2007.

Yarennoka

Monte Cox, the president and CEO of M-1 Global, confirmed Emelianenko would face South Korean kickboxer Hong-Man Choi in a New Year's Eve event, Yarennoka!, taking place in Japan and organized by the former Pride FC staff with support from M-1 Global, FEG, and Deep. A special rule was used for this fight to not allow any knee strikes on the ground. The fight was broadcasted live in the United States on Mark Cuban's HDNet. Emelianenko defeated Choi in the opening round by submission via an armbar.

Dream

On February 13, 2008, Emelianenko attended a press conference held by Dream, a newly-formed Japanese mixed martial arts promotion. His manager, Finkelstein, confirmed that the organization had a tightly knit alliance with M-1 Global and that he would be fighting on the new organization's fight cards.

Affliction

At Affliction's inaugural event, promoted as Affliction: Banned, Emelianenko defeated former two-time Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia via submission at 36 seconds in the first round.

In his next fight with Affliction, Emelianenko defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski at Affliction: Day of Reckoning on January 24, 2009. Arlovski attempted a flying knee and Emelianenko countered with an overhand right, dropping Arlovski at 3:14 of the first round.

Sambo

On November 16, 2008, Fedor's first loss in Sambo in eight years came at the Combat Sambo World Championships St. Petersburg, Russia, where he fell in the semifinals of the over 220-pound division to 23-year old Bulgarian Blagoi Ivanov on points 8 to 5. Fedor finished the tournament in 3rd place.


Championships and accomplishments

Judo

Status Date Championship Weight Location
7th April 1, 2000 Dutch Grand Prix 100 kg Netherlands Rotterdam, Netherlands
3rd February 7, 1999 Sofia Liberation A-Team 100 kg Bulgaria Sofia, Bulgaria
3rd January 24, 1999 Moscow International Tournament 100 kg Russia Moscow, Russia
3rd December 5, 1998 Russian National Championships Open weight Russia Kstovo, Russia
Winner 1997 Russian National Championships 100 kg Russia Kursk, Russia

Sambo

Status Date Championship Weight Location
3rd 2008 World Combat Sambo Championships Open weight Czech Republic Prague, Czech Republic
Winner 2008 Russian Combat Sambo Championship 100 kg+ Russia Saint Petersburg, Russia
Winner 2007 World Combat Sambo Championships Open weight Czech Republic Prague, Czech Republic
Winner 2007 Russian Combat Sambo Championships ? Russia Buryat Republic, Russia
Winner 2006 Russian Combat Sambo Championships ? Russia Buryat Republic, Russia
Winner 2005 World Combat Sambo Championships Heavyweight Czech Republic Prague, Czech Republic
Winner 2002 World Combat Sambo Championships Open weight Panama Panama City, Panama
Winner 2002 World Combat Sambo Championships Heavyweight Greece Thessaloniki, Greece
Winner 2002 Russian Combat Sambo Championships ? Russia Moscow, Russia
3rd 2000 Russian Combat Sambo Championships ? Russia Orenburg, Russia
Winner 1998 Russian Armed Forces Combat Sambo Championships ? Russia Russia
2nd 1998 Russian Armed Forces Combat Sambo Championships Open weight Russia Russia
3rd 1998 Russian Combat Sambo Championships ? Russia Kaliningrad, Russia
Winner 1997 European Combat Sambo Championships ? Georgia (country) Tbilisi, Georgia
Winner 1997 Russian Combat Sambo Championships ? Russia St. Petersburg, Russia

Honorary titles and appellations

  • Wrestling Observer Newsletter 2005 Shootfighter of the Year
  • Sherdog.com 2005 #1 Pound for Pound Fighter in the World
  • Sherdog.com 2005-2008 #1 Heavyweight in the World
  • Yahoo! Sports #1 MMA Fighter (July—November 2007)
  • Inside MMA #1 MMA Fighter of All-Time

See also

References

  1. ^ Humber, Yuriy (October 11, 2005). "Russian Mixed Martial Arts Fighter Wins Fame and Fortune in the Caged Rings of Japan". The St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved June 26, 2007.
  2. Gross, Josh (May 26, 2007). "Emelianenko motivated to represent himself in U.S." ESPN.com. Retrieved June 15, 2007. I want to stay on top and show people that Russian fighters are very good... I want to represent myself and to be honored by the Russian people. —Fedor Emelianenko
  3. Additional details:
  4. ^ "Inside MMA 219". Inside MMA. May 9, 2008. 51:30 minutes in. HDNet. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |city= ignored (|location= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ "Fedor Emelianenko Biography". 2004. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference nyt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Nastenko, Georgiy (February 21, 2007). ""It's possible to win even lying on your back"" (Reprint). Rossiya Newspaper. Retrieved June 4, 2007. Ivan is 18, and though he has a lot of talent, he does not have enough drive and ambition. However, he is not shooting for huge success either. At the very least, he is not ready for any sacrifices in order to reach certain results, unlike me, for example. And that's normal. For each his own. Sport, especially martial arts, is not something people should be forced to do. —Fedor Emelianenko
  8. "«Поддержка близких придаёт сил и уверенности, и в то же время ещё большей ответственности за результат…»" (in Russian). January 1, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2007.
  9. Malinowski, Scoop (October 16, 2006). "The Biofiles: Fedor Emelianenko". CBS SportsLine.com. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  10. "Федор Емельяненко не перестает удивлять своих поклонников" (in Russian). June 20, 2005. Retrieved August 14, 2007.
  11. "Article from a Japanese magazine "Number"" (Reprint). Number. July 19, 2004. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  12. ^ "Amsterdam interview". MMAru.org. August 8, 2005. Retrieved June 26, 2007. I never stood out with my genetics and don't think I had some extraordinary talent. Everything I managed to do with hard training... I didn't train wrestling, I gathered together many things, created something like a little gym for myself and worked on my physical training and of course was running cross. All the time I was working to become stronger. And I wasn't in a special sport forces . —Fedor Emelianenko
  13. "Interview to magazine Fighter Magazine" (Reprint). Fighter Magazine. July 30, 2004. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  14. Kogan, Evgeni (July 21, 2007). "Aleksander Emelianenko: MMA's First Sibling". Sherdog.com. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
  15. ""I am neither cruel nor rude"". July 28, 2003. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  16. "Interview with Fedor Emelyanenko". March 17, 2004. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  17. "Russian fancy of Mixed Martial Arts won't have to go abroad to see the March tournament "Russia vs. USA"". December 4, 2006. Retrieved June 10, 2007. It seems 's caught "I am a star" disease, considers himself a great fighter, doesn't train properly (we have not been working together for over 6 months) and now seriously loses for the second time this season. —Fedor Emelianenko
  18. Dunlop, Marcelo (November 29, 2005). "Brazilians united to stop Fedor". Gracie Magazine. Retrieved June 10, 2007. Fedor is now in Holland all the time training Muay Thai with Ernesto Hoost. —Pedro Rizzo
  19. "On fights, brothers, and a meeting with the President". May 8, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  20. ^ Leidecker, Tim (November 10, 2007). "Fedor Defends Combat Sambo World Championship". Sherdog.com. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  21. Iole, Kevin. "Emelianenko: I'm not the best fighter". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
  22. Rousseau, Robert (2006). "Fedor Emelianenko Bio / Training / Fighting Techniques". ExtremeProSports.com. Retrieved June 4, 2007.
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  24. "The fight with Mirko CroCop will happen definitely!". April 13, 2005. Retrieved January 25, 2009. Also we will be guests in Holland Iogan Bosa of . —Fedor Emelianenko
  25. 9, 2008-fedor_N.htm "Russian Emelianenko brings big reputation to the States". USA Today. Retrieved July 20, 2008. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  26. "Fedor Emelianenko interview". Pridefc.com. March 28, 2005. Retrieved June 9, 2007. not a good memory. I was cut by Kosaka's illegal strike (elbow). There was blood coming from my eyebrow and I couldn't finish the fight. The Rings' judges gave the victory to Kosaka and wouldn't give me a revenge match. I don't think it was fair. —Fedor Emelianenko
  27. Sievert, Steve (April 15, 2007). "Fedor continues dominance, submits Lindland in first". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved July 2, 2007.
  28. ^ Caplan, Sam (August 16, 2007). "Fedor's next destination should be the UFC". CBS SportsLine. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
  29. Mohaparta, Pramit (June 12, 2007). "One-on-one with Chuck Liddell". baltimoresun.com: The Baltimore Sun wesbite. Tribune Company. Retrieved June 15, 2007. You've got Fedor coming over... in the heavyweight division. —Chuck Liddell
  30. Martin, Todd (July 2, 2007). "Foreign invasion: Some familiar faces are ready for action at UFC". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved July 3, 2007. no idea what these crazy Russians are going to do. —Dana White
  31. Kogan, Evgeni (July 27, 2007). "Finkelstein discusses Fedor's future in MMA". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 2, 2007. very harsh in their terms... their proposal has all kinds of clauses fines that do not suit us... Fedor must represent (sic) combat sambo in Russia. —Vadim Finkelstein
  32. Cain, Jeff (September 22, 2007). "Presidential Address, State of the UFC". MMA Weekly. Retrieved September 30, 2007. I think that Fedor, right now, the word is he wants to fight in this Sambo event, but I won't let him fight in it if he's with us. I think he's going to wait until he fights in this thing in October, November, and we'll probably come to a deal with him at the end of this year or the beginning of next year... What we'd want to do is, we'd want to know who is the best heavyweight in the world. So if we sign Fedor, Fedor comes right in and fights Randy Couture for the title. —Dana White
  33. Hockensmith, Ryan (October 22, 2007). "Emelianenko ready to move on to M-1". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
  34. Hunt, Loretta (October 10, 2007). "Fedor Commits to M-1". TheFightNetwork.com. Retrieved October 10, 2007.
  35. Stupp, Dann (October 22, 2007). "It's Official: Fedor Emelianenko Signs With M-1 Global". MMA Junkie. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
  36. Pishna, Ken (November 20, 2007). "On Again, Off Again, Fedor NYE Fight Confirmed". MMA Weekly. Retrieved November 20, 2007.
  37. Smith, Michael David (December 31, 2007). "Fedor Emelianenko Defeats Hong Man Choi". AOL Sports. Retrieved December 31, 2007.
  38. Loiseleur, Tony (February 13, 2008). "'Dream' Come True? New Promotion Announced". Sherdog.com. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  39. Arritt, Dan (July 20, 2008). "Fedor Emelianenko makes short work of Tim Sylvia at Affliction show". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 14, 2008.
  40. Hall, Joe. "Fedor counters knee to KO Arlovski". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  41. Leidecker, Tim. "Overeem: "Cro Cop" Yet to Sign; Manhoef Returns". Sherdog.com. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
  42. ^ "FactFile: Fedor Emelianenko". JudoInside.com. Retrieved June 5, 2007.
  43. ^ "Fedor Emelianenko profile". Pridefc.com. Retrieved June 26, 2007.
  44. McNeil, Franklin (January 22, 2009). "Recent Sambo defeat not fazing Fedor". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 27, 2008.
  45. "Russian Combat Sambo Championship. Day one". February 8, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
  46. ^ "Fedor Emelianenko once again becomes Combat Sambo Champion of Russia". February 12, 2007. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  47. Meltzer, Dave (April 1, 2006). "2005 Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards". Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
  48. Gross, Josh (November 29, 2005). "J.G.'s Dirty Dozen—A Pound-for-Pound MMA Ranking". Sherdog.com. Retrieved June 10, 2007.
  49. "Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings". Sherdog.com. Retrieved June 7, 2008.
  50. Doyle, Dave (July 26, 2007). "The Yahoo! Sports MMA Top 10". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved June 7, 2008.

External links

Preceded byAntônio Rodrigo Nogueira 2nd Pride FC Heavyweight Champion
March 16, 2003-present 		Current holder
New championship WAMMA Heavyweight Champion
July 19, 2008-present 		Current holder

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