Fedor Emelianenko (born 11 July 1974 in Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Russia) is a Russian mixed martial artist and former amateur wrestler for the Russian national team. He is considered by many to be the world's best heavyweight mixed martial artist. His nickname, which he does not like, is "The Last Emperor". He is also known by his birth name, Fedor Emelianenko. Emelianenko debuted in 1995 in the Russian amateur wrestling association
In 1998, he won the 1998 NCAA Division I Heavyweight Wrestling Championship for Penn State University. He placed second at both the 1999 World Wrestling Championships and 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney before becoming the first Russian to win an Olympic gold medal when he won the Greco-Roman heavyweight wrestling title at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Emelianenko debuted in professional fighting in November 2001 when he defeated veteran up-and-comer Mark Coleman via third-round submission at RINGS: Destiny. The victory was considered one of the biggest upsets in MMA history at that time.
Emelianenko would go on to beat three more experienced fighters in 2003: Aleksander Emelianenko, Aleksander Medved, and Hristo Stoichkov. In 2005, Fedor faced undefeated American fighter Randy Couture on a UFC 73 card held at Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. Mainly due to a knee injury Couture was unable to continue and lost via TKO from punches from Emelianenko after being knocked down by a punch from him on two occasions. In the aftermath of the fight Fedor was labeled as a complete badass by some MMA enthusiasts and was even named "Fighter of the Year" for 2005 by Sherdog .
In 2006 he again faced Couture again which ended with a TKO victory for Emelianenko over Couture via elbow strike. Also during this year he had a title shot against Matt Lindland for the UFC Heavyweight Championship which ended with a unanimous decision win for Emelianenko over Lindland on March 26 at UFC 69 where he became only the 3rd man ever to hold UFC titles in two different weight classes simultaneously winning his first Heavyweight championship belt at UFC 65 and then winning his second Heavyweight title belt at UFC 71 . He again successfully defended his UFC 70 Heavyweight Championship against Frank Mir on August 17 .
In 2008 he was scheduled once again to fight Randy Couture
Only those who never stand up, never fall down.Fedor Emelianenko
For every athlete, it is very important to be able to engage in their favorite thing, give all the best in training, performing in competitions, defending the honor of the motherland.Fedor Emelianenko
