Issue 197

February 2023

Fedor Emelianenko is, by many people’s estimation, MMA’s greatest heavyweight champion of all time. But all good things must come to an end, and Fedor brought the curtain down on his 23-year, 48-fight career at Bellator 290. Simon Head looks back at “The Last Emperor’s” “Last Dance”.

Fedor Emelianenko has never been one to buy into hyperbole. The unassuming heavyweight has always carried himself with an introverted stoicism that only briefly cracked immediately after his wins, when he allowed himself a brief fist-pump of celebration.

His was not a career laden with trash talk or heated rivalries. Instead, he approached each fight with the same, matter-of-fact style as the one before, as he built a career resume that will stand the test of time during the golden era of MMA in Japan.

At the age of 46, and with 47 career bouts to his name, rumors of his retirement were rife. Each of his prior six bouts in Bellator had the same question mark hanging over them. Would this be the last time we see the great Fedor inside the cage? Would a defeat mark the end? Would a win mean he carries on in search of a fairytale ending? Those questions were all answered when Fedor confirmed that his heavyweight title challenge against Ryan Bader at Bellator 290 would be his final fight. That fairytale ending was there for the taking. But MMA rarely allows fighters to leave on their own terms – even if they’re an all-time great like Emelianenko.

Business as usual

Fedor has always had a no-frills approach to his fights, so it was no surprise when he said that his mindset for the final fight of his career would be no different from a motivational standpoint to any of his other bouts.

“The only extra motivation for this fight is that I will be very happy to finish it,” he said during his pre-fight press conference. But he did allow himself a little moment of reflection when asked bout his past matchups.

“I can remember all my fights, no matter how fast they were,” he recalled.

“Some of them ended quickly, some didn’t. The most important, and the first one that I remember still, is the first fight with Antonio Nogueira for the belt in Pride.”

That fight with Nogueira served as an important milestone in Fedor’s career, as it saw him capture the Pride heavyweight title in only his third bout for the Japanese promotion. It also marked the changing of the guard at the top of the sport’s heavyweight division, with Brazilian legend Nogueira having no answer to Fedor’s combat sambo-based skillset. 

“Big Nog’s” jiu-jitsu and survival abilities were already legendary at that point, but Fedor’s ability to scramble with him on the mat, then punish him with ground strikes, proved a crucial difference-maker as Emelianenko earned a unanimous decision to claim the championship.

That win came two years into a remarkable decade-long undefeated streak that saw him face a host of legendary names, including Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Mirko Cro Cop, and Mark Hunt.

Confidence and hard work

Fedor explained that when he made the transition from judo to MMA, he quickly realized that his skillset was ideally suited to the sport, and he was sure that the combination of his martial arts skills and work ethic would help him compete at the top of the sport.

"When I first started my career, I had just switched over from judo competitions to professional fights," recalled Emelianenko.

"It was just the beginning, going to the gym. I had to learn what to do because it was all new to me.

"I was watching VHS tapes from the last tournaments of MMA. When I watched the champions, I figured out that I was going to be able to compete with them at the highest level.

"It wasn’t something I couldn’t do; I just had to work hard. I never expected or imagined that I would have the career that I had. I just was trying to fight and be prepared as best as I could and win every fight."

After Pride FC folded in 2007, Emelianenko was expected to join many of his former rivals in the UFC. But, despite negotiations between the two parties, a deal between Fedor and the UFC never came to fruition. It remains one of the sport’s great “What If” questions. 

Instead, Fedor bounced around a host of promotions, including BodogFIGHT, Affliction, Strikeforce, M-1 Global, and Rizin before signing for Bellator in 2017. By then “The Last Emperor’s” powers were clearly on the wane, but the mere presence of such a universally respected MMA legend on a fight card brought the anticipation and nostalgia flooding back for longtime fans. Could Fedor really make another run at a title in his 40s? Remarkably, the answer was yes. 

The final chapter

Emelianenko was included in the Bellator Heavyweight World Grand Prix in 2018, and a 48-second knockout of former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir showed that Fedor’s punch power was still very much intact. A semi-final matchup with Chael Sonnen produced another first-round finish as he surged into the Grand Prix final. But, with championship gold within touching distance, Fedor fell to a first-round TKO defeat as a younger, fresher, more powerful Ryan Bader connected clean on the Russian’s battle-worn chin to win the tournament and capture the vacant Bellator heavyweight title in January 2019.

Many expected Fedor to retire there and then, but he returned at the end of the year to TKO Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in the first round on an emotional night in his old stomping ground in Saitama, Japan. Then, in October 2021, he knocked out heavyweight contender Tim Johnson in just 106 seconds to put himself in striking distance of the Bellator title – and a rematch with Bader – once again. This time it would be his final fight. Fedor’s “Last Dance.”

His rematch with Bader ultimately ended in defeat, as the reigning Bellator heavyweight champion stopped Emelianenko with strikes in the opening round. It meant Fedor ended his career on a loss, but the fact that he went out competing at the top of Bellator's heavyweight division was something he was clearly proud of.

"I’m surprised myself that I’m still able to fight at this level after all these years," he admitted.

"I’ve preserved myself pretty well. And, of course, thank you to my team, because they support me all the time. I had a pretty good career and a pretty good package of different skills so I tried to preserve those skills until my later age."

That longevity saw Fedor gain countless fans, both in the stands and among his fellow competitors, and a host of MMA legends were in attendance on fight night to pay tribute to Fedor for his legendary career. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Chael Sonnen, Royce Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Chuck Liddell, Josh Barnett, Matt Hughes, Frank Shamrock, Randy Couture, Mark Hunt, and Dan Henderson all joined Fedor in the cage after his final fight to congratulate him on a stellar career and pay respects to a fighter still considered by many as the heavyweight GOAT. 

“I was really happy to see all the legends, all the fighters," he said, after the fight.

"With some of them, I shared the ring. With some of them, I was watching and learning from them. It was great to have them come and support me."

As for the fight itself, it proved to be a bridge too far for the 46-year-old, who said he had no regrets after laying down his gloves and calling time on his legendary career.

"I’m getting older, my age. Plus all my injuries from the past, they start to remind me of them. My body doesn’t feel the same way as it used to," he admitted.

"The only thing (that could have been different) – I could have beat Ryan Bader. But it didn't happen."

He in a rare moment of public reflection, Fedor opened up a little as he talked about what fighting, and his career, meant to him.

"It's a part of my life. One of the most important parts of my life," he said.

"Basically, I'm very happy and very excited it happened here (in the US). Right from the beginning, we were discussing that it was going to be three fights: Russia, Japan, and the last one in the United States.

"Thanks God, everything is great. The money comes and goes, so you never know what will happen. I still have my arms and my legs, so I can work if I have to."

He was then asked about going out on a loss.

"It doesn't matter if I win or lose, that's how it was supposed to happen," he said.

"You saw today, the whole arena was cheering for me. So, I really hope that I keep my popularity and my fanbase based on my actions in the cage, not because I was trash-talking my opponents."

A lasting legacy

For longtime fans, Fedor will go down in history as one of the greatest fighters in the sport's history. But, rather than his incredible championship run in Pride, or his legendary fights with the likes of Randleman, Nogueira, and Cro Cop, Emelianenko just hopes that he'll be remembered for his honest, hard-working approach to the sport and performances inside the ring and the cage.

"I want to be remembered by MMA fans as an athlete who gained his popularity and his fanbase based on his skills," he said.

"Based on his fighting skills, not based on his trash-talking or any of that nasty stuff that’s popular right now. That’s how I want to be remembered."

Fedor's legacy will extend beyond his accomplishments inside the cage, however, with "The Last Emperor" now helping guide the careers of a new generation of Russian fighters, including current Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov and middleweight contender Anatoly Tokov, who unsuccessfully challenged for the Bellator 185-pound title in the co-main event of Bellator 290, before his mentor made the final walk of his career.

"It’s awesome to see my younger teammates having so much success," said Fedor.

"All this time, I’ve competed at the highest level, and now there’s a new generation of fighters coming over and winning belts and having good careers. There’s a legacy that I’m leaving behind.

"I am watching MMA stars start to compete in boxing. I have thought about whether I could do that too, but I want to be done completely fighting," he continued.

"But I will still be involved in MMA because I have my team. These guys are like my family and no matter what, I will always be next to them all the time. I’ll try to do my best and help them in any way I can.

"I’ve been in sports all my life, and this sport is part of my life. No matter what I do, I’m going to share my experiences and my knowledge in this sport. This sport is in my blood."