January 23, 2019
By Ryan Porzl
Regardless of whether you're a fan of his or think he's not worth all his hype, you have to admit that Fedor Emelianenko is a legend in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and one of the all time greats. He had a career almost no one has had, was arguably the fighter of the 2000s, won multiple championships and tournaments, and beat some of the best fighters of his time. Then after going unbeaten in 28 fights, Fedor finally fell at the hands of Fabricio Werdum before stumbling through two more fights then bounced back with a three fight win streak before retiring in 2012 and it looked as though his time was over. Fast forward three years and Fedor returned in 2015 but it was lackluster in his first three fights before entering the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix and seemingly returning to form. Now on January 26th, The Last Emperor will fight in the finals and is one fight away from returning to champion status which many thought was over long ago.
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| Fedor submitting to Fabricio Werdum |
June 26, 2010 is a date that would live in MMA infamy. On that day, Fedor Emelianenko, considered the number one heavyweight and arguably the number one fighter in the world, took on Fabricio Werdum in a fight that should've been any other with Emelianenko pulling out another win especially since Werdum was considered a good fighter but not an elite one in either PRIDE and the UFC. The fight started the way everyone thought with Fedor dropping Werdum and seemingly on the verge of winning but his overzealousness allowed Werdum, a world champion in brazilian jiu-jitsu, to catch him with a triangle choke and before he realized it, Fedor was left with no choice but to tap in less than two minutes. The loss sent shockwaves around the MMA world as it marked the end of one of the most dominant runs in MMA history as Fedor was unbeaten in 10 years and 28 fights. It also was his first decisive loss as well with his only previous loss being a highly controversial one to Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Emotions were at an all time high with fans heartbroken the seemingly invincible fighter had finally gone down while critics were ecstatic as it gave them ammunition to their theory of Fedor being overrated since he's one of the few of his generation never to have stepped foot into the octagon.
Prior to the loss, Fedor had built a legacy and resume that few could match. As a fighter, Fedor was the whole package as he came from a grappling background specifically judo and combat sambo but also displayed solid striking skills along with one punch knockout power and an iron chin to boot. In his peak, he was dangerous every where he went and seemed to have no weaknesses with world class strikers unable to knock him out or world class grapplers until Werdum weren't able to submit him and all his decision wins were unanimous. As if that wasn't enough, Fedor was also able to not only survive playing his game but even his opponent's game. Before the first Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira fight, it was considered suicide to go to the ground with him and especially be in his guard but that meant nothing against Fedor who went to the ground time and again all the while peppering Nogueira with brutal ground n' pound all the while making his world class ground game look insignificant. Mirko Cro Cop was one of the best and most feared strikers in MMA during his prime and Fedor had no problem standing with him and not only holding his own but even getting good shots in. Mark Coleman is one of the best wrestlers in MMA history who was at his best on top of opponents raining down ground n' pound on his opponents but the two times Fedor faced him, he turned Coleman's comfort zone to his downfall by catching him with an armbar forcing The Hammer to tap out. Against Kevin Randleman, Fedor took a jumping german suplex from the athletic wrestler and was dropped on the back of his neck and shoulders which would knock out or cripple most but Emelianenko shrugged it off like it was nothing and less than a minute later submitted Randleman with a kimura. What's interesting is Fedor never fit what people would expect as he was never a brash, loud mouth, trash talker like a Conor Mcgregor or a jacked up titan like a Brock Lesnar but rather a quiet, short, chubby Russian at 6'0 tall and between 220-235 pounds. Yet inspite of all that, Fedor still became one of the biggest and most dominating names the sport will ever see. Despite not being the talker of a Mcgregor, Fedor still became not only a celebrity but a hero in his native Russia to the point where he's run with the Olympic torch twice and befriended president Vladimir Putin who would even be seen front row at Fedor's fights in Russia. Despite not having the god given genetics of Lesnar, Fedor brought down one elite name after another for a decade while stacking his trophy case with titles and grand prix trophy belts.
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| Fedor with RINGS championships |
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| Fedor as PRIDE champion |
Afterwards, the Werdum loss occurred and Fedor would eventually wash out of Strikeforce dropping his next two fights. He entered Strikeforce's Heavyweight Grand Prix in early 2011 but lost in the first round to former Cage Rage, Cage Warriors, and EliteXC Champion Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva by TKO between rounds due to swelling near his eye. The loss marked the only time Fedor either failed to win or make it to the finals of a tournament. He then lost to fellow legend Dan Henderson that July after having Hendo in trouble but got overzealous and was caught by Hendo's legendary h-bomb right hand. The fight was similar to the Lindland fight (ironic given Lindland and Henderson were former team mates) in that Emelianenko took a gamble as he gained little from the win with Henderson moving up to heavyweight which was a weight division he never fought before or after only this time, he came up short. After the losses, Emelianenko either quit or was cut (depending on who you talk to). He bounced back in M-1 that November defeating former Cage Warriors champion and former UFC Heavyweight Championship contender Jeff Monson and then defeated Olympic gold medalist Satoshi Ishii in DREAM in Japan on New Year's Eve. In June 2012, Fedor then faced former UFC Heavyweight Championship contender and fellow legend Pedro Rizzo at M-1 again in his native Russia. Prior to the fight, rumblings did swirl that Fedor would be announcing his retirement though he denied them going into the fight. Sure enough, after making quick work of Rizzo, Emelianenko announced his retirement post-fight and took a job as president of the Russian MMA Union. After 12 years, a 34-4, 1 NC record, and 35 going on 36, the career of one of MMA's greats was done and it appeared as though the book was closed. In the end, it was a bit sad not only because it was the end of an era but the way Fedor went didn't seem to be the best. While he did go out on a 3 fight win streak which is better than most, his last 2 years left a lot to be desired as he suffered the 3 losses in Strikeforce and his 3 wins weren't the best. Jeff Monson is a very good fighter and was a top heavyweight once but by 2011, he was mostly a journeyman. Satoshi Ishii has been considered a huge disappointment as he has yet to achieve his potential and he wasn't the savior of Japanese MMA like many hoped. Rizzo is a legend but he was not only washed up but hadn't fought in 2 years. Still, it's better than most getting knocked out repeatedly before finally going into retirement.
Despite his retirement, it didn't take long for rumors to begin of a potential comeback. Like a lot of MMA retirements, Emelianenko's didn't last and 3 years later in July 2015, Fedor resigned as president of the Russian MMA union and announced his comeback to fighting. It was interesting as Fedor left behind a great legacy and the question would be could he make a comeback or would he be like many athletes who stuck around too long? To no surprise, he was in demand from all promotions and rumors flew about who he would face but eventually Fedor settled on the newly formed Rizin Fighting Federation. Unfortunately, his comeback opponent was against 2-0 DEEP Megaton Champion Jaideep Singh which wasn't an interesting fight and Singh wasn't considered any type of threat though some did defend it as a tune up fight since it was Fedor's first fight in 3 1/2 years. To no surprise, Emelianenko dominated and quickly put Singh away. Emelianenko's next fight was in Russia for Fight Nights against former UFC fighter Fabio Maldonado. Given Maldonado was a middle of the pack fighter, many thought Fedor would have no trouble but the fight was a disaster as Fedor was rocked several times in the first round before bouncing back in rounds 2 and 3 but given Maldonado put Fedor in jeopardy during the first the thought was it was enough for a 10-8 which would result in a 29-29 draw but Fedor instead won on a controversial majority decision. Because the fight was in Russia, many thought Fedor got favorable treatment. After this fight, Fedor signed with Bellator reuniting him with former Strikeforce owner Scott Coker. His debut fight was against former UFC fighter and Ultimate Fighter contestant Matt Mitrione which was originally set for Bellator 172 on February 18, 2017 but was delayed till Bellator's Bellator NYC Pay-Per-View on June 24th due to Mitrione suffering kidney stones. The fight would last less than 90 seconds with both landing a punch that knocked the other down but Mitrione recovered and finished Emelianenko off. With these 3 fights, it looked as though this comeback was a mistake and another case of a legendary athlete who stayed too long.
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| Fedor following his win over Frank Mir |
Then, Fedor entered the Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix for the vacant Bellator Heavyweight Championship and things began to fall into place. In the first round at Bellator 198 on April 28, 2018, Emelianenko faced former UFC Heavyweight and Interim Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir in a fight years in the making. After a scare in the beginning, Fedor knocked Mir out in only 48 seconds to advance while Mir marked the fifth former UFC Heavyweight Champion Fedor beat (sixth if counting Nogueira who was an interim champion). Fedor then faced Chael Sonnen in the semifinals and put on a clinic before winning by TKO in the first round. Now, on January 26th, Fedor will enter the cage to face Light Heavyweight Champion Ryan Bader for the Grand Prix and the Bellator Heavyweight Championship. The fight will be tough and regardless of winning or losing, this heavyweight grand prix campaign has made the return worth it. However, this will be huge should he be victorious. A win would give Fedor his first Heavyweight Championship in 9 years and his first grand prix in 14. A win would make Fedor one of the few to have held at least three different heavyweight championships and make him one of the most decorated fighters of all time having held four different championships and four tournament wins counting his openweight honors in RINGS. At 42 and not having been a champion in 9 years, a win would put Fedor's comeback on par with Randy Couture's legendary 2007 comeback where Couture, at 43 going on 44, ended a 13 month retirement to win a historic third UFC Heavyweight Championship or Georges St-Pierre breaking a four year hiatus to win the UFC Middleweight Championship. Even though the majority already consider him the greatest heavyweight, a win would make it almost impossible to argue otherwise and it would take a long time for anyone to catch up. It's also possible he may again call it a day and if so, it would be better to ride off in the sunset with another heavyweight championship and grand prix or at least competing for a major championship and reaching the finals of a major grand prix instead of the way he originally left 7 years ago.
This Saturday night, we'll see one of MMA's greats compete to see if he can become Heavyweight Champion and Grand Prix Champion one more time as he takes on an opponent seeking to make his own history becoming the first to hold two Bellator titles simultaneously. Does The Last Emperor return to the throne once again or is the emperor dead/long live the emperor?
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