Fedor Emelianenko

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Fedor Emelianenko

Statistics
Height	6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight	224 lb (101.8 kg)
Nationality	Russian
Born	September 28, 1976
Fighting out of	Stary Oskol, Russia
Town of birth	Luhansk, Ukraine
Fighting style	Judo, Sambo, Kickboxing
Mixed martial arts record
Wins	24
By knockout	6
By submission	11
Losses	1
Draws	0
No contests	1

Fedor Emelianenko (IPA: ['fʲodər jemilʲja'nʲenkə], Russian: Фёдор Емельяненко), born September 28, 1976), is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter and the current Heavyweight Champion in the PRIDE Fighting Championships based in Japan. 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, and has a professional MMA record of 24-1-0.

1 Biography
2 Club Affiliation
3 Championship accomplishments
4 See also
5 Notes
6 External links

[edit] Biography

Fedor Emelianenko was born in 1976 in the Rubezhnoe town in Luhansk region^[1], 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. In his spare time, Fedor has stated he likes the sun and going to the beach, he has also stated he likes drawing, and has posted some paintings on his official website. He's also said he has got a pet turtle and likes cats and dogs but also stated he lacks time for pets and that he prefers spending that time with his daughter instead^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] 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 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.^[2]

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^[3] 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".^[4]

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.^[5] Emelianenko also runs 12-15 kilometers (7.5 - 9.3 miles) every day.^[6] 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 Nagnibeda (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,^[7] and added a Muay Thai coach, Ruslan Nagnibeda, “Seikin-do” league 78 kg title holder from 1998 to 2002 (33-3-1) to his team.

[edit] RINGS

Fedor'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 is wearing elbow pads^{[citation needed]}. Since the fight was in a tournament format, a winner and loser was required (no draws and no contests). 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.

[edit] PRIDE Fighting Championships

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Fedor's PRIDE debut was against 6'11, 256 lbs (211 cm, 116 kg) Dutch karate black belt Semmy Schilt, whom he defeated by unanimous decision. His next opponent was heavyweight Heath Herring. Fedor defeated Herring by doctor stoppage after the first round.

Fedor was then signed to fight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for PRIDE's heavyweight championship title. After three rounds, the judges rendered a unanimous decision, and Emelianenko became the second PRIDE Heavyweight Champion.

[edit] Club Affiliation

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 Fedor 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 sport' titles to Fedor and his brother Aleksander, in addition to financial disputes between Pogodin and Emelianenko, with Fedor alleging he was deceived by Pogodin.^[8]^[9] 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 Fedor Emelianenko's manager.

[edit] Championship accomplishments

[edit] Mixed Martial Arts

PRIDE World Heavyweight Champion (3/16/2003 - present)
PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament Champion (2004)
RINGS King of Kings Heavyweight Tournament Champion (2001)
RINGS World Absolute Class Tournament Champion (2001)

24 Wins (6 (T)KO's, 11 submissions, 7 decisions), 1 Losses, 1 No Contest.
Date	Result	Opponent	Event	Method	Round	Time
10/21/2006	Win	Mark Coleman	PRIDE 32: The Real Deal	Submission (Armbar)	2	1:15
12/31/2005	Win	Zuluzinho	PRIDE Shockwave 2005	Submission (punches)	1	0:26
8/28/2005	Win	Mirko Filipović	PRIDE Final Conflict 2005	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
4/3/2005	Win	Tsuyoshi Kohsaka	PRIDE Bushido 6	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)	1	10:00
12/31/2004	Win	Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira	PRIDE Shockwave 2004	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
8/15/2004	No Contest	Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira	PRIDE Final Conflict 2004	Cut From Accidental Headbutt	1	3:52
8/15/2004	Win	Naoya Ogawa	PRIDE Final Conflict 2004	Submission (Armbar)	1	0:54
6/20/2004	Win	Kevin Randleman	PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004	Submission (Kimura)	1	1:33
4/25/2004	Win	Mark Coleman	PRIDE Total Elimination 2004	Submission (Armbar)	1	2:11
12/31/2003	Win	Yuji Nagata	Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003-Inoki Festival	TKO (Punches)	1	1:02
8/10/2003	Win	Gary Goodridge	PRIDE Total Elimination 2003	TKO (Strikes)	1	1:09
6/8/2003	Win	Kazuyuki Fujita	PRIDE 26: Bad to the Bone	Submission (Choke)	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)	3	5:00
11/24/2002	Win	Heath Herring	PRIDE 23: Championship Chaos 2	TKO (Doctor Stoppage)	1	10:00
6/23/2002	Win	Semmy Schilt	PRIDE 21: Demolition	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
2/15/2002	Win	Chris Haseman	RINGS-World Title Series Grand Final	TKO (Lost Points)	1	2:50
12/21/2001	Win	Lee Hasdell	RINGS-World Title Series 5	Submission (Guillotine Choke)	1	4:10
10/20/2001	Win	Ryushi Yanagisawa	RINGS-World Title Series 4	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
8/11/2001	Win	Renato Sobral	RINGS-10th Anniversary	Decision (Unanimous)	2	5:00
4/20/2001	Win	Kerry Schall	RINGS-World Title Series 1	Submission (Armbar)	1	1:47
4/6/2001	Win	Mihail Apostolov	RINGS- Russia-Russia vs Bulgaria	Submission (Rear Naked Choke)	1	1:03
12/22/2000	Loss	Tsuyoshi Kohsaka	RINGS-King of Kings 2000 Block B	TKO (Cut)	1	0:17
12/22/2000	Win	Ricardo Arona	RINGS-King of Kings 2000 Block B	Decision (Unanimous)	3	5:00
9/5/2000	Win	Hiroya Takada	RINGS-Battle Genesis Vol. 6	KO (Punches)	1	0:12
8/16/2000	Win	Levon Lagvilava	RINGS-Russia vs Georgia	Submission (Choke)	1	7:24

[edit] Judo

Moscow International Tournament 100 kg weight 3rd place (January 24, 1999)
A-Tournament Sofia 100 kg weight 3rd place (February 7, 1999)
Russian Championships Kstovo (absolute division) 3rd place (December 5, 1999 according to JudoInside^[10]; 1998 according to Fedor's official website^[11])
Dutch Grand Prix Rotterdam 100 kg weight - 7th place (April 1, 2000) ^[12]

[edit] Sambo

Russian Combat Sambo Champion (Moscow championship, 2002)
World Combat Sambo Champion (heavyweight division) (Saloniki, Greece, 2002)
World Combat Sambo Champion (absolute division) (Panama, 2002)
World Combat Sambo Champion (heavyweight division) (Prague, Czech Republic, 2005)