Fedor Emelianenko: Greatest MMA Heavyweight Fighter Of All Time

Unstoppable Force

Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko has been widely considered among true MMA fans as the greatest heavyweight fighter of all time. This opinion comes from fans witnessing a 10-year winning streak where he dominated the class. Fedor never set foot inside the UFC and mostly competed in other overseas events such as Pride, Strikeforce and Rings. At first glance, Fedor’s physical appearance is nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, you would think that he was an underdog. This is what actually adds to the disbelief after fighters touch gloves. The truth is that Fedor is a natural born fighter who in his prime was an unstoppable force no matter what opponent was thrown at him.

Dominating For 10-Years

Fedor was undefeated with a total number of 29 fights between April 6, 2001 and June 26, 2010. Excluding the “no contest”, only 5 of the fights went to decision. He had an amazing finishing percentage of over 80%. His explosive power, quick striking, and grappling skills were unsurpassable. Fedor dominated inside the ring even when matched against super heavyweight kickboxer Choi Hong-man, 7’2” 330 lbs and Zuluzinho, 6’7” 408 lbs. These two victories and others against fighters who at some point held an MMA championship earned Fedor a spot in MMA History.

“The Baddest Man On The Planet” And Sports Science

If his incredible winning streak was not enough, Fedor was featured in a documentary and an episode of Sports Science further showing what made him a great fighter. “The Baddest Man On The Planet” is the name of the documentary that showcased Fedor’s fights, opponent commentaries, training environment and methods. Before this documentary, there was no information of what Fedor did to be so great. Although the documentary exposed his back of the woods “secret” training location, environment and methods it also created more questions. 

Fedor was featured on Season 02; Episode 01: “Choked and Slammed” of Sports Science. In this episode, Fedor goes head to head against a python in choking power. The results were astonishing. A dummy was setup with a sensor around its neck to measure the raw choking power of both the python and Fedor. The 9-foot python reported 40 lbs of force and Fedor over 12 times at 500 lbs. On a test performed during the episode, Fedor was able to choke out the host John Brenkus with just 40 lbs of force. Medical experts confirmed that at 500 lbs of force it was enough to crush the windpipe and sever the spinal cord.  

Retirement And Come Back

Fedor’s incredible winning streak finally ended on June 26, 2010 when he lost against Fabrício Werdum by a triangle armbar submission. Another two losses followed against Dan Henderson and Antônio Silva. If there is anything fans have learned from MMA is that nobody stays undefeated forever. Just when everyone thought Fedor was done he bounced back again with three wins. He announced his retirement on June 21, 2012 post-fight his win against Pedro Rizzo. After three years Fedor came back from retirement to win two more fights against Singh Jaideep and Fábio Maldonado. Fedor Emelianenko confirmed this year that he has been in negotiations with the UFC. Now at 40 years old “The Last Emperor” still doing what he does best.