Sherdog's Top 10: Fedor Emelianenko Moments

To commemorate the last fight of “The Last Emperor,” MMA's greatest heavyweight ever and one of its most iconic and beloved legends, Sherdog’s top 10 is very different this week. We'll take a look at the 10 most memorable and enduring moments during the career of Fedor Emelianenko. There was some leeway, as not all the moments mentioned were victories, or even fights. All, however, are part of the storied lore of one of MMA's greatest, most inspirational champions.

10. The Unbeaten Streak

The first entry isn't a single fight, but the sheer magnitude of Emelianenko’s reign as the heavyweight king no one could defeat. From the time that he turned pro in 2000 until late 2010, he was essentially undefeated in his first 33 fights; a moment that lasted nearly a decade. There is a loss that appears on his record to Tsuyoshi Kosaka in Rings, but that was due to an illegal elbow in the opening seconds that opened a huge cut. Since the fight was part of a tournament and someone needed to advance, Kosaka was given the victory. (There were a lot of shady results in that organization; just watch Randy Couture vs. Mikhail Ilyukhin.) Furthermore, Fedor’s time as emperor lasted for an amazing seven years and 19 straight victories after his first triumph over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at Pride 25 in early 2003. Sure, there were plenty of weak touches during that time, like Wagner da Conceicao Martins “Zuluzinho” , Hong Man Choi and Yuji Nagata, but he also dominated the trilogy against Nogueira, finished four former UFC heavyweight champions (Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Kevin Randleman and Mark Coleman twice) all in the first round, and won the “Fight of the Century” against Mirko Filipovic in that span, too.

How did Fedor manage to stave off defeat for so long when so many other heavyweight greats succumb? After all, with men so big and powerful, a single moment of inattention can lead to being knocked out. Greats like Cain Velasquez and Stipe Miocic never had long winning streaks and once they became champions, were defeated within a few fights by big underdogs. Fedor defying fate wasn't always easy, but in addition to lightning hand and foot speed for a heavyweight, enormous punching power, a great judo and sambo-based grappling and submission game, Fedor's incredible cardio, heart, and intelligence combined with his very tough chin and good recuperative powers allowed him to win in many desperate situations, whether against Kazuyuki Fujita, Mark Hunt, or a few others we will examine later. Going undefeated for so long against so many dangerous opponents in a high-variance weight class like heavyweight is stupefying, and we may never see it again.

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