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Fedor Emelianenko

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Fedor Emelianenko (IPA: [fiodor jemiljaˈnjenkʌ], Russian: Фёдор Емельяненко. September 28,1976) is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter and the current Heavyweight Champion in the PRIDE Fighting Championships, the worlds largest MMA organization, currently based in Japan. He has a professional MMA record of 23-1-0. He was the 1998 bronze medalist in Russian Judo championship; the 2002 World Sambo heavyweight division champion, the 2005 World Combat Sambo champion; Rings: King of Kings 2001 heavyweight tournament champion; Rings: King of Kings 2002 absolute weight class tournament champion and PRIDE FC 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament champion. He has been the reigning heavyweight champion in PRIDE since March 16, 2003.

Contents

Biography

Fedor Emelianenko was born in 1976 in the Rubezhnoe town in Luhansk region[#endnote_bio], presently a part of Ukraine (part of the Soviet Union at the time). Fedor's family moved to Stary Oskol, Russia in 1978. His mother, Olga Feodorovna, is a teacher. His father, Vladimir Alexandrovich, is a gas-electric welder. Fedor 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 an MMA fighter in PRIDE, and Ivan is currently in training.

Fedor finished high school in 1991 and graduated with honors from a professional trade school in 1994. In 1999 he married his wife, Oksana. Fedor's daughter, Masha, was also born in 1999.

Fedor is part of the Red Devil Sport Club camp.

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[#endnote_numberInterview] that ten-year-old Fedor was relatively weak physically and did not have an innate grappling talent; instead, Fedor's biggest strength was his perseverance and strong will.

From 1995 until 1997, Emelianenko served in the Russian Army. His official biography erroneously states that he trained in Sambo during his army years. However, Fedor has specified in his 2005 Amsterdam interview[#endnote_amsterdamInterview] 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. 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. Fedor started competing in combat sambo and mixed martial arts in 2000, because he "didn't have any money"[#endnote_fighterInterviewRus].

Fedor used to weight train extensively, but in 1999 he almost completely substituted his weight exercises with sport-specific training in grappling, boxing and kick-boxing. His strength training consists of daily pull-ups, push ups on parallel bars, and crunches[#endnote_interviewRus28.07.2003]. Emelianenko also runs 12-15 kilometers (7.5 - 9.3 miles) every day[#endnote_interviewEng17.03.2004]. 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 Nagnibida (Muay Thai), and his training partners: his brother, Aleksander Emelianenko, and Roman Zentsov, another PRIDE fighter.

In 2005 Emelianenko started paying special attention to improving his kicking technique. He trained Muay Thai with kickboxer Ernesto Hoost in Netherlands,[#endnote_muaythai] and added a Muay Thai coach, Ruslan Nagnibida, to his team. During his 5 day visit in January 2006 to South Korea to promote Sambo, Fedor mentioned that now he also trains in Tae Kwon Do to improve his kicks[#endnote_tkd].

Mixed Martial Arts

Fedor Emelianenko currently holds a professional Mixed Martial Arts record of 23-1-0. He started his MMA career in the RINGS organization, a promotion with a comparatively restrictive ruleset, and eventually signed with PRIDE Fighting Championships after RINGS went defunct; in fact, RINGS Japan's last-ever major event was Emelianenko's final bout to capture the "King of Kings" title. After a unanimous decision victory over Semmy Schilt, and a Doctor Stoppage victory over Heath Herring, Fedor Emelianenko signed to fight for PRIDE's heavyweight championship title. On March 16, 2003, Emelianenko became PRIDE's heavyweight champion by defeating Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who had been undefeated for two years.

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 a TKO (doctor stoppage due to a cut) 17 seconds into the fight. The cut was caused by an elbow strike, illegal under RINGS rules unless the striker was wearing elbow pads; however the tournament format required a winner and loser be acclaimed. He avenged the loss at the PRIDE Bushido 6 event on April 3, 2005, defeating Kohsaka by TKO due to doctor stoppage after the first round.

In 2004, Fedor Emelianenko participated in PRIDE's Heavyweight Grand Prix, in which 16 fighters would compete in a three-event tournament to determine a champion. In the first round, Emelianenko defeated American freestyle wrestler and former PRIDE Grand Prix champion Mark Coleman by submission in the first round. In the second round, Emelianenko overcame Coleman's teammate, Kevin Randleman, also by a first-round submission, in 1:33. Emelianenko would add another first-round submission in his third fight, submitting Olympic judo silver medalist and hugely popular puroresu personality Naoya Ogawa in under a minute. In the final bout, he would face his rival Antonio Nogueira once again.

The bout proved to be inconclusive; after an accidental clash of heads resulted in a deep gash over the eye of Emelianenko, the fight was proclaimed a No Contest, which would be rematched later in the year to award the tournament championship. The two met again at Pride's Itadaki (Shockwave in the U.S.) event for a match which would be for both the Grand Prix and Heavyweight titles. Emelianenko emerged victorious once again, defeating Nogueira by unanimous decision for a second time.

On August 28, 2005, Emelianenko successfully defended his heavyweight title by defeating Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic by way of unanimous decision in the Pride FC Final Conflict event held in Saitama, Japan. It was his third title defense.

Emelianenko has had continuing problems with a persistent hand injury. Originally compacted in his 2003 bout with Gary Goodridge, Emelianenko has compounded his injury by continuing to compete without receiving adequate treatment and recuperation. In 2006, Emelianenko finally agreed to undergo surgery to break and re-set bones in his hand properly at a hospital in St. Petersburg, Russia. His recovery process is currently ongoing as of July 2006.

Record

Judo

Sambo

Mixed Martial Arts

23 wins (6 TKOs, 10 submissions, 7 decisions), 1 loss (TKO (Cut)).

|- |12/31/2005 |Win |Zuluzinho |PRIDE Shockwave 2005 |Submission (Punches) |Round 1, 0:26 |- |8/28/2005 |Win |Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic |PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 |Decision (Unanimous) |Round 3, 5:00 |- |4/3/2005 |Win |Tsuyoshi Kohsaka |PRIDE - Bushido 6 |TKO (Doctor Stoppage) |Round 1, 10:00 |- |12/31/2004 |Win |Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira |PRIDE Shockwave 2004 |Decision (Unanimous) |Round 3, 5:00 |- |8/15/2004 |NC |Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira |PRIDE Final Conflict 2004 |Cut From Accidental Headbutt |Round 1 3:52 |- |8/15/2004 |Win |Naoya Ogawa |PRIDE Final Conflict 2004 |Submission (Armbar) |Round 1 0:54 |- |6/20/2004 |Win |Kevin Randleman |PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004 |Submission (Kimura) |Round 1 1:33 |- |4/25/2004 |Win |Mark Coleman |PRIDE Total Elimination 2004 |Submission (Armbar) |Round 1 2:11 |- |12/31/2003 |Win |Yuji Nagata |Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003-Inoki Festival |Knockout|TKO (Punches) |Round 1 1:02 |- |8/10/2003 |Win |Gary Goodridge |PRIDE Total Elimination 2003 |TKO (Strikes) |Round 1 1:09 |- |6/8/2003 |Win |Kazuyuki Fujita |PRIDE 26 Bad to the Bone |Submission (Choke) |Round 1 4:17 |- |4/5/2003 |Win |Egidijus Valavicius |Rings Lithuania-Bushido Rings 7: Adrenalinas |Submission (Kimura) |- |3/16/2003 |Win |Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira |PRIDE 25 Body Blow |Decision (Unanimous) |Round 3 5:00 |- |11/24/2002 |Win |Heath Herring |PRIDE 23 Championship Chaos 2 |Knockout|TKO (Cut) |Round 1 10:00 |- |6/23/2002 |Win |Semmy Schilt |PRIDE 21 Demolition |Decision (Unanimous) |Round 3 5:00 |- |2/15/2002 |Win |Chris Haseman |Rings-World Title Series Grand Final |TKO (Lost Points) |Round 1 2:50 |- |12/21/2001 |Win |Lee Hasdell |Rings-World Title Series 5 |Submission (Guillotine Choke) |Round 1 4:10 |- |10/20/2001 |Win |Ryushi Yanagisawa |Rings-World Title Series 4 |Decision (Unanimous) |Round 3 5:00 |- |8/11/2001 |Win |Renato Sobral |Rings-10th Anniversary |Decision (Unanimous) |Round 2 5:00 |- |4/20/2001 |Win |Kerry Schall |Rings-World Title Series 1 |Submission (Armbar) |Round 1 1:47 |- |4/6/2001 |Win |Mihail Apostolov |Rings- Russia-Russia vs Bulgaria |Submission (Rear Naked Choke) |Round 1 1:03 |- |12/22/2000 |Loss |Tsuyoshi Kohsaka |Rings-King of Kings 2000 Block B |TKO (Cut) |Round 1 0:17 |- |12/22/2000 |Win |Ricardo Arona |Rings-King of Kings 2000 Block B |Decision (Unanimous) |Round 3 5:00 |- |9/5/2000 |Win |Hiroya Takada |Rings-Battle Genesis Vol. 6 |KO (Punches) |Round 1 0:12 |- |8/16/2000 |Win |Levon Lagvilava |Rings-Russia vs Georgia |Submission (Choke) |Round 1 7:24

Championship table

>
Previous champion
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira 		PRIDE Fighting Championship 2nd World Heavyweight Champion
March 16, 2003 - present 		Next champion
none

See also

Notes

External links

 

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