Fedor Emelianenko

Who is Fedor Emelianenko?

Fedor Emelianenko is a Russian MMA fighter who currently fights for Bellator MMA and the Rizin Fighting Federation. Fedor Emelianenko is regarded as one of the finest heavyweight champions in the history of MMA.

He is also a sambist, having achieved the status of 1st Razryad Grandmaster and winning three FIAS World Combat Sambo Championships.

Emelianenko is also a black belt and International Master of Sport in Judo.

He won bronze medals at the Russian Judo Federation National Championships in 1998 and 1999.

American sports publication Sports Illustrated named him Fighter of the Decade in the 2000s.

Similarly, from April 2003 until April 2010, FightMatrix ranked him as the number one heavyweight champion.

Emelianenko has stayed modest throughout his career, despite his incredible success.

Because of his difficult background as a result of poverty, he learned to be grateful for everything in life.

More about Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor Emelianenko’s Childhood, Family, and Education

Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko was born on September 28, 1976, in Rubizhne, a town in Ukraine’s Luhansk Oblast.

When his parents, Vladimir Alexandrovich and Olga Fedorovna, chose to relocate to Russia, he was only two years old.

They lived in the Belgorod Oblast town of Stary Oskol, where his father worked as a welder and his mother as a teacher.

Fedor’s family was struggling financially, and they could only have a nice dinner once a week.

Similarly, the younger boys had to wear their elder siblings’ hand-me-downs.

Emelianenko began learning Sambo and Judo at the age of 11 under the tutelage of Vasily Ivanovich Gavrilov.

Similarly, at the age of 12, he began taking proper sports classes with instructor Vladimir Voronov.

In 1991, he graduated from high school and enrolled in a professional trade school.

He graduated with honors from an electrical trade school in 1994.

Emelianenko afterward joined the Russian Army and worked as a military firefighter.

Similarly, he served in the tank division at Nizhny Novgorod.

To summarize, from 1995 to 1997, Emelianenko served in the Russian Ground Forces.

In 1997, Emelianenko was awarded the title of “Master of Sports” in Sambo and Judo.

After that, he joined the Russian national squad, but he had to quit in 2000 due to financial difficulties.

He graduated from Belgorod State University in Russia in 2008.

Fedor enjoys reading, painting, and listening to music in addition to athletics.

Professional Career

Fedor Emelianenko left the Russian national team and joined the Russian Top Team (RTT).

It was linked to the Japanese fighting sports promotion Fighting Network Rings.

As a result, he was able to practice with Volk Han and Andrei Kopylov.

He quickly left RTT to join the Red Devil Sport Club MMA academy in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Emelianenko debuted as an MMA fighter for Rings on May 21, 2000.

He won four straight games that year, but a loss in December ended his winning streak.

When Tsuyoshi Kohsaka’s elbow impacted Emelianenko in the head, he was competing against him.

Emelianenko’s cut from a previous fight was opened up by the elbow strike, which was prohibited for the event.

However, Emelianenko won the next 28 fights in his career before succumbing to his first defeat in June 2010.

Pride MMA Championships

Emelianenko made his Pride Fighting Championships debut on June 23, 2002, against Dutch kickboxer Semmy Schilt.

He defeated Schilt unanimously and went on to defeat MMA fighter, Heath Herring, in his second fight.

On March 16, 2003, Emelianenko faced former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira in Pride 25.

He used ground-and-pound to control the battle for twenty minutes while evading Nogueria’s guard.

Fedor, meanwhile, won the Pride Heavyweight Championship by unanimous decision.

He competed in the Pride 2004 Heavyweight World Grand Prix event 2004.

First, he defeated Japanese judoka Naoya Ogawa in the semi-finals.

He then advanced to the finals, where he faced Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Because of an unintended injury to Emelianenko’s head, their fight was called a no-contest.

In other words, the two fought again, and Emelianenko dominated Nogueira with punches and Judo throws.

He won the heavyweight title unanimously once more.

Fedor defended his championship against Croatian kickboxer Mirko Cro Cop at Pride Final Conflict 2005.

He won the fight after twenty minutes.

He won the Pride Shockwave 2006 tournament by submission after defending his heavyweight belt for the final time against Mark Hunt.

From 2003 through 2007, Emelianenko held the Pride Heavyweight Championship.

M-1 International

Emelianenko competed in multiple MMA events after his contract with Pride expired, as part of a two-year pact with mixed martial arts promoter M-1 Global.

He fought South Korean kickboxer, Hong-man Choi, in Yarennoka in 2007!

On New Year’s Eve, an MMA event was conducted in Japan, and Emelianenko won via submission in the first round.

A year later, he participated in the Japanese MMA promotion Dream, which had a tight relationship with M-1 Global.

Then, on July 19, 2008, at Affliction: Banned, he faced former Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia.

Within 36 seconds of the battle, Emelianenko won by submission by rear-naked choke.

Second, on January 24, 2009, he defeated Andrei Arlovski by knockout at Affliction: Day of Recking.

UFC President Dana White attempted multiple times to sign Fedor Emelianenko to an exclusive UFC contract.

According to speculations, he offered Emelianenko a deal worth somewhat less than $2 million per bout.

However, the UFC and M-1 Global were unable to reach an agreement.

M-1 As a co-promotion, Global wants to collaborate with UFC.

White, on the other hand, refused to accept their requirements.

Emelianenko instead accepted to compete for Strikeforce.

Retirement

He defeated Brett Rogers in the Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers main event on November 7, 2009.

However, Emelianenko was defeated by Fabricio Werdum in the first encounter of his career on June 26, 2010.

Emelianenko was contemplating retirement prior to the fight due to rising physical issues.

However, he lost his next two Strikeforce battles before departing the MMA company for good.

He returned to Japan on December 31, 2011, to fight in Fight for Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka.

He defeated Satoshi Ishii in a knockout match.

On June 21, 2012, he won an M-1 Global event by knockout over Pedro Rizzo.

Emelianenko then announced his retirement as a competitor.

He did, however, continue to serve as President of the Russian MMA Union until October 2018.

Since 2012, Emelianenko has served on Russia’s Presidential Council on Physical Fitness and Sports.

Similarly, he entered politics in 2010 as a deputy of the Belgorod Regional Duma for a five-year term.

Back to MMA

On July 14, 2015, he returned to the MMA world as an active competitor with the Rizin Fighting Federation.

He won his first bout after returning by submission against Indian heavyweight kickboxer Jaideep Singh.

On June 17, 2016, he competed in a promotional event in St. Petersburg, Russia, against Fábio Maldonado.

Emelianenko was proclaimed the winner by a majority of votes, but the decision was reversed owing to public outcry.

Bellator MMA has officially signed him to a multi-fight contract.

Following that, on June 24, 2017, Emelianenko defeated Matt Mitrione by knockout in the Bellator NYC event.

Fedor-Emelianenko-holds-the-russian-flag-at-Bellator-269

At the Bellator 269 event, Emelianenko holds the Russian flag.

Emelianenko contested for the title of Bellator Heavyweight Champion in the 2018 Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix.

He defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir by knockout at Bellator 198 on April 28, 2018.

On October 13, 2018, he defeated Chael Sonnen via TKO in the event’s semi-finals.

Furthermore, on October 23, 2021, he knocked out Timothy Johnson at Bellator 269.

On January 26, 2019, he lost the final event to Ryan Bader, who became the Bellator Heavyweight Champion.

Emelianenko defeated Quinton Jackson by knockout at Bellator 237.

Fedor Emelianenko’s Family and Marriage

In 1999, Emelianenko married his high school love Oksana, and the pair welcomed their daughter Masha the following year.

However, the couple divorced in 2006.

Emelianenko welcomed his second daughter, Vasilisa, with his fiancée Marina on December 29, 2007.

While Emelianenko was still married to Oksana, there were suspicions that the two were having an affair.

They married in 2009, and their younger daughter Elizaveta was born in July 2011.

Fedor and Marina divorced in 2013 after seven years of marriage. A year later, he remarried his first wife, Oksana.

Fedor Emelianenko’s Salary

Fedor Emelianenko is one of the world’s top 10 richest MMA fighters.

Depending on the MMA promoter, he can earn anywhere from $300,000 to $2 million for each event.

HIS NET WORTH IS ESTIMATED TO BE $18 MILLION.

Emelianenko has earned more than $8 million throughout his career.

He is also the co-owner of M-1 Global, which is situated in St. Petersburg, Russia.

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Fedor Emelianenko on Twitter

Fedor Emelianenko may be found on Instagram.

He tries to keep his personal life off social media, therefore he usually posts about MMA and his fighting squad.

Emelianenko, on the other hand, does not have an official Twitter or Facebook page.

Instagram has 1.1 million users.