Russian mixed martial arts fighter Fedor ‘The Last Emperor’ Emelianenko was once the baddest man on the planet.
Fedor debuted his mixed martial arts career in 2000 at age 23 after winning multiple world titles in judo in the Heavyweight category.
After winning most of his fights in the RINGS promotion Fedor entered the PRIDE Fighting Championships promotion, the biggest MMA organization at the time. His world-class grappling skills coupled with his killer overhand right strike earned him a shot at then PRIDE FC Heavyweight Champion, brazilian Antonio ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira.
And that is where the legend began.
Nogueira, a long-time, elite grappler who possessed an unprecedented ability to absorb strikes, was the heavy favorite going into his title bout with Fedor.
Nonetheless, the fight was lopsided. In Fedor’s favor, that is. The Russian put on a clinic, outshining Nogueira both on the feet AND on the ground, something that no one ever was able to do to Nogueira.
So what made Fedor special?
Was it his unreal brute strength? His powerful judo takedowns? His surgical ground-and-pound accuracy? His killer overhand right?
Granted, all these things contributed to Fedor’s aura, making him the most feared fighter at the time, by a pretty wide margin. But what REALLY paved the way for Fedor’s legend was his ability to overcome adversity.
Have a look at the video below to see what I’m talking about:
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Yikes.
Kevin Randleman, a highly-decorated wrestler and physical monster, managed to hit a textbook suplex on Fedor…. making him land heavily on his neck, and that’s an understatement.
Seriously, imagine being thrown in the air and SLAMMED on your NECK!
Now, most fighters would have been knocked out by this unreal suplex, or even worse…
But we’re talking about Fedor here.
The guy proceeded to casually recover from this beast of a suplex slam, reversed position, hit Randleman 18 times in the head, and submit him with a kimura submission…
All in the span of 90 seconds.
Randleman’s suplex slam is a gem, a thing of beauty, but Fedor’s ability to recover from it somehow managed to steal the spotlight in this legendary MMA fight.
To watch this full fight, visit UFC Fight Pass now!
