It seems only fair, if I'm going to run a profile on great fighters, that I start with the best there is.
Fedor Emelianenko stands an unimposing six feet tall and looks, to use the words of PRIDE commentator Jay Glazer, "like a slimmed down version of the Pillsbury Doh-boy." While Fedor and his pot-belly weigh in at around 235 pounds, his unimposing, some might say "doughy", physique still seem intimidating, and it isn't obvious. When he competes, his face is expressionless and his undefined jaw and receeding hairline don't offer looks like Brad Pitt. Some would tell you, however, that this uncharismatic Russian heavyweight fights at a level that only haunts most fighters nightmares, because they all know that they can never be that good.
Fedor is widely considered the #1 heavyweight in the world by hardcore MMA fans. He has wins over top heavyweights like former K-1 kickboxers Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic (Unanimous Decision) and Mark Hunt (Submission - Kimura), as well as ground wizards like Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and NCAA wrestling legend Kevin "The Monster" Randleman.
While Fedor was a relative unknown when he made his debut in PRIDE fighting championships, many of the scouts thought that the up-and-comer from the Russian RINGS organization would be an interesting fighter to watch, because of his well known Sambo skills.
Fedor made his debut in the PRIDE Fighting Championships against the giant Semmy Schilt and, though Fedor had wins over well known fighters like lightheavyweights Renato "Babalu" Sobral (Unanimous Decision) and Ricardo Arona (Unanimous decision), no one expected him to manhandle the 6'11 Dutch Kickboxing champion the way that he did.
Fedor defeated Schilt with a decision and, while he kept the fight on the ground the way he intended to, he had not yet shown off the brutal standing punches that he would use to dominate grounded opponents.
In Fedor's second fight he was set up against a very dangerous opponent, the "Texas Crazy Horse" Heath Herring. At the time, Herring was one of the most well respected of the PRIDE veterans, who had become only the second man to smash NCAA champion and MMA legend Mark "The Smashing Machine" Kerr and had managed to take the submission wizard Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira all the way to a decision.
Many fans of the sport from out side of Russia still did not know who Fedor was. All they knew was that he had beaten Schilt in his debut. No one thought that his ground skills would be on par with Nogueira, and so they weren't sure that Herring was over matched.
Fedor destroyed Herring and the doctors called a stop to the fight after Fedor delivered a cut that left the Texan unable to continue. Despite initial thoughts about whether or not this twenty something Russian showing signs of early onset balding would be able to hang with a veteran like Herring were removed when Fedor threw Herring to the ground like a rag doll throughout the first round and began to apply the ground and pound tactics for which he would become famous.
Fedor's next matchup was against the legendary Nogueira, widely considered PRIDE's most dangerous ground fighter. Nogueira's only loss was over a controversial split decision and, though Fedor and Nogueira had both fought in RINGS, Nogueira was considered more experience, because he also held wins of Schilt and Herring, but he had also beaten Dan Henderson (the fighter who had given him his only loss) and American fighters Mark Coleman and Gary Goodridge.
Going into the fight, many wondered if Fedor could do what the former NCAA champion Coleman could not, and ground and pound Nogueira without being submitted.
Fedor shocked the world, dominating Nogueira for 20 minutes and taking over the position as the most dangerous man on the ground.
Fedor returned to RINGS for one fight, which he won by submission and then went on a tear:
Smashed hard skulled Kazuyuki Fujita (Submission - Rear Nake Choke)
TKO'd Gary Goodridge and Yuji Nagata
Submitted NCAA champions, former UFC Heavyweight Champions and training partners Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman in back-to-back armlocks.
Submitted Naoya Ogawa
Beat Nogueira decisively again
TKO'd the only man to beat him, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka (Kohsaka won a loss over a cut not obtained by a legal strike, and so the win was controversial and widely disputed anyway)
Defeated the #1 striker in MMA Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic, avoiding the majority of CroCop's powerful striking and, impressively, hanging with the Croatian on his feet.
And then Fedor did something that no one had ever seen before. He knocked down a 400 pound fighter with one punch, beating "Zuluzinho" Wagner De Conceicao Martins in 26 seconds.
After his victory over Zuluzinho, Fedor was forced to have reconstructive on his hand and spent 10 months in recovery, until August of 2006.
In his return to PRIDE he defended his title against Mark Coleman, defeating the original UFC heavyweight champion by submission with an armbar in the second round. Fedor admitted that he let the fight last so that he could shake off the ringrust.
Fedor then defended his title again, two months later on New Year's Eve, defeating kickboxing legend Mark Hunt with a kimura armlock.
After defeating Hunt, Fedor submitted the worlds #1 middleweight, Matt "The Law" Lindland in the first round of their fight in Bodog, a fight that drew controversy because Fedor was under contract with PRIDE. Fedor's PRIDE contract allowed him to fight on any card in Russia, but it is a clause that has been attacked by UFC President Dana White.
It has been rumored that Fedor may follow in suit of fellow PRIDE veteran's Mirko Filipovic and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and fight in the UFC, who recently bought out the PRIDE Fighting Championships. There are rumors of negotiations between the two and there have been announces of verbal agreements, but nothing with extraordinary merit.
When Fedor does come to the UFC, bringing his PRIDE heavyweight title and the most impressive record in the sport, he will, undoubtably, be the heavy favorite in every one of his bouts, as he has been for some time.
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