caption birth_name birth_place weight url other_names height relatives name native_name birth_date rank sherdog image article_title native_lang
fedor 19 october 2006 at the caesars palace 's roman plaza on fedor vladimirovich emelianenko rubizhne union , luhansk oblast , ukrainian ssr , soviet 235 lb kg st on http://www.fedoremelianenko.tv/eng/ the last emperor 1.82 alexander -rrb- emelianenko -lrb- brother -rrb- ivan emelianenko -lrb- brother fedor emelianenko Фёдор Емельяненко 28 september 1976 '' 1st razryad grand master in sambo '' 1500 fedor emelianenko 2006.jpg fedor emelianenko
 russian
fedor emelianenko

fedor vladimirovich emelianenko -lrb- , -rrb- -lrb- born 28 september 1976 -rrb- is a russian heavyweight mixed martial artist -lrb- mma -rrb- , sambist , and judoka .
he has won championships and accolades in multiple sports , most notably in mma pride fighting championships -lrb- heavyweight champion 2003-2007 -rrb- , fias world combat sambo championship -lrb- heavyweight champion 2002 , 2005 , 2007 -rrb- , and russian judo federation national championship -lrb- bronze medal 1998 , 1999 -rrb- .
emelianenko began his mma career on may 21 , 2000 , with four straight victories , including a win over adcc champion ricardo arona , which is considered one of his toughest fights in his career .
then came a controversial loss to tsuyoshi kohsaka on december 22 , 2000 .
in his next 28 fights up until june 26 , 2010 emelianenko was unbeaten , including wins over four former ufc champions , one pride fc champion , one former and two future k-1 champions and two former olympic medalists .
during this period he defeated eleven top-10 ranked fighters -lrb- two of them twice -rrb- , in addition to winning a rematch against kohsaka .
emelianenko has earned numerous mma accolades over the years , including ; 2008 submission/beatdown of the year awards , 2009 knockout of the year awards , heavyweight of the year awards , fighter of the year awards and 2000s fight of the decade awards .
sports illustrated , among other publications , named him the top mma fighter of the decade .
he is widely considered to have had the best ground-and-pound in the history of the sport .
in addition he has been regarded for his wide ranging skills in various aspects of mma , with mma analyst jack slack writing `` very few men can claim to have olympic alternate level judo and still able to out-strike the best kickboxer in mma history '' .
sports and mma media , espn , bleacher report , sherdog , sb nation -lrb- mmafighting -rrb- and fight matrix , list him as the greatest mma heavyweight fighter of all time .
emelianenko is also the longest reigning heavyweight lineal champion and # 1 pound for pound ranked fighter in mma history .
former combat sports fighters chuck norris and mike tyson ; current mma fighters such as junior dos santos , fabrício werdum , and jose aldo ; and other publications have called emelianenko the greatest mixed martial artist of all time .
mma referee john mccarthy , sports commentator michael schiavello and others , have compared emelianenko 's impact and legacy in mma to the likes of muhammad ali , pele , wayne gretzky , and their legacies in their respective sports .
between june 26 , 2010 and june 21 , 2012 , emelianenko suffered three consecutive losses , to top-10 ranked heavyweight fighters fabrício werdum and antônio silva and , then reigning strikeforce light heavyweight champion , dan henderson , followed by three consecutive wins against former adcc champion jeff monson , former olympic medalist satoshi ishii and former ufc heavyweight contender pedro rizzo .
emelianenko retired from fighting after the rizzo fight , and became acting president of the russian mma union .
he is currently also a staff member of russia 's presidential council on physical fitness & sports -lrb- 2012 -- present -rrb- , and a deputy at belgorod regional duma -lrb- 2010 -- present -rrb- .
on july 14th , 2015 , after a three year hiatus from mixed martial arts , emelianenko announced that he will be returning to active competition and has started training immediately .
he is currently in negotiations with the ultimate fighting championship and bellator mma .
in a statement released through his management , emelianenko added that he has retired from his position at the russian ministry of sport , and will put all attention toward his comeback .
