Fedor Emelianenko is a Russian former Mixed Martial Artist and politician, often regarded as one of the greatest Mixed Martial Artists of all time. He was also very famous for his skills in judo and was an acclaimed sambist as well. Throughout his career, the Russian went on to win various accolades and tournaments across varying sports, winning the World Combat Sambo Championships on four separate occasions, was medalist in the Russian national Judo Championship and was also the 2004 PRIDE Grand Prix champion.
The top Mixed Martial Arts media outlets and platforms have all hailed the Russian during and after his career and although analysts are divided over their opinion regarding Emelianenko, many consider him as the greatest Mixed Martial Artist of all time. He was undefeated for more than a decade in the sport and during this period, Fedor Emelianenko was widely regarded as the best Heavyweight fighter in the sport.
Emelianenko began his career as a Mixed Martial Artist when he started to train for the sport in the Russian Top Team with the first couple of exponents from Russia to the RINGS promotion. And after some time, the Russian himself joined the RINGS promotion in Japan where he would go on to suffer the first defeat of his Mixed Martial Arts career, albeit a controversial one. He became the holder of the RINGS Heavyweight Championship before RINGS folded and he made his way to PRIDE.
It was here that Fedor Emelianenko earned the most acclaim as a fighter and his unbeaten run earned him the moniker of The Last Emperor. After PRIDE, the Russian fought for various other promotions but he never actually joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship or the UFC, although he came very close to joining it on a couple of occasions as well.