Fedor Emelianenko

Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko is a Russian athlete, MMA fighter, four-time world champion in mixed martial arts - MMA in heavyweight according to Pride FC, two-time - according to RINGS, two-time - according to WAMMA, four-time world champion and nine-time champion of Russia in combat sambo. Honored Master of Sports in Sambo and International Master of Sports in Judo. Considered the best fighter in the history of mixed martial arts.

From 2003 to 2010, he was recognized worldwide by the most famous sports media (ESPN, Sherdog, Full Contact Fighter, MMA Weekly, Knockout) as the best heavyweight MMA fighter. During the same period, in the lists of the best fighters, regardless of the weight category (English pound-for-pound), he held the leading position, being in first place according to MMA.com, second according to MMANews and third according to Sherdog and was recognized by many by experts the best MMA fighter in the history of the sport. The list of defeated fighters includes: António Rodrigo Nogueira, Sammy Schilt, Mark Coleman, Ricardo Arona, Mirko Filipovic, Tim Sylvia, Andrei Orlovsky, Mark Hunt and other famous fighters.

For almost ten years he remained undefeated, which is unprecedented in the history of MMA. He received his first official defeat under controversial circumstances: on December 22, 2000, as part of the King of Kings 2000 Block B tournament, the Japanese fighter Tsuyoshi Kosaka cut Emelianenko's eyebrow with a forbidden elbow strike, and already at the 17th second of the fight, the doctors stopped the fight. Since within the framework of the tournament there had to be a winner who would continue his way to the final, and Emelianenko could not continue to participate, Kosaka was recognized as the winner of the battle. In this regard, many fans of mixed martial arts, not taking into account this defeat due to its illegitimacy, considered Emelianenko the only undefeated MMA fighter before his defeat to Fabricio Werdum, who defeated the “triangle” choke on June 26, 2010 as part of the Strikeforce 26 tournament. Loss to Werdum became the first in a series of three defeats in a row, after which Emelianenko's ratings in the lists of the best fighters in the world decreased significantly. After some time, having won several victories in Russia and Japan, he announced his retirement from the sport, but returned three years later, speaking with varying success in various organizations.