Sers' blog: Martial Arts legend Fedor Emelianenko is back. ... 17 PHOTOS

Posted from: Martial Arts legend Fedor Emelianenko is back. ... 17 PHOTOS

Martial Arts legend Fedor Emelianenko is back.

17 PHOTOS

Former PRIDE FC heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko will make his mixed martial arts return today in the main event of the promotion's New Year's Eve on Dec. 31, at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. Also for Fedor it will be his Rizin Fighting Federation debut. Fedor will fight against kickboxing veteran Jaideep Singh.

Singh, who has only two fights in MMA, the Indian-born fighter has won 40 kickboxing bouts and has fought the likes of Gokhan Saki and Sergei Kharitonov.

Singh "Heart" Jaideep is an Indian-Japanese heavyweight kickboxer and mixed martial artist. He is the K-1 World Grand Prix 2009 in Seoul tournament champion.

Born: August 21, 1987 (age 28), India
Height: 1.96 m
Weight: 100 kg
Losses: 10
Number of contests: 1

The 39-year-old Emelianenko (34-4, 1 NC) recently ended his retirement to sign with former Pride boss Nobuyuki Sakakibara's new promotion, whose name has yet to be announced. One name that has been discussed is Samurai FC, but that has yet to be finalized. That announcement is also expected to come Thursday, along with several more details about the organization.

Born: September 28, 1976 (age 39), Rubizhne, Ukraine
Height: 1.82 m
Height 1.82 m (5 ft 11 1/2 in)
Weight 235 lb (107 kg; 16.8 st)
Division Heavyweight
Reach 74.5 in (189 cm)
Style Sambo and Judo

Team Red Devil Sport Club/Alexander Nevsky OAMK (2003 – present), Russian Top Team (2000–2003)
Teachers: Volk Han, Andrei Kopylov

Trainers
Judo, Sambo: Vladimir Voronov
Boxing: Alexander Michkov
Muay Thai: Peter Teijsse
Kickboxing: Ernesto Hoost

Rank 1st Razryad Grand Master in Sambo
Black belt and International Master of Sport in Judo
Years active 2000 – 2012 (MMA), 2015 – present

Mixed martial arts record
Total 39
Wins 34
By knockout 10
By submission 16
By decision 8
Losses 4
By knockout 3
By submission 1
No contests 1

Fedor Emelianenko is a legend that is considered the king of MMA’s Golden Age. The Last Emperor managed to stay 10 years undefeated, being Pride heavyweight champion between 2003 and 2008. Fedor is the longest reigning top pound-for-pound ranked fighter in MMA history.

Emelianenko started his MMA career in 2000 against Martin Lazarov. Fedor recorded 4 straight wins, including a splendid victory against Ricardo Arona, in one of the toughest fights of Emelianenko ever.

He was defeated only once until 2010. This defeat came in the early days of his MMA career against the Japanes legend Tsuyoshi Kosaka, who accidentally injured Fedor with an elbow strike. The match should have been declared No Contest because elbows were not allowed, but the Japaneses decided to declare winner their fellow countrymen after only 17 seconds. The Last Emperor had his revenge 5 years later, when he battered Kosaka in the first round, and proved that the Japanese had won the previous fight because judges’ unfair decision.

Fedor Emelianenko was undefeated since December 2000 (after that controversial defeat against Kosaka) until June 2010, recording 28 wins against the best fighters of his time. The Last Emperor ruled Pride and managed to defeat 11 top-10 ranked fighters (two of them twice – Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mark Coleman). In those legendary 10 years, Fedor Emelianenko won 22 of his matches before limit and only 6 by decision. The Last Emperor proved that can beat anyone, even on their own turf. Fedor beat twice Nogueira on the ground and managed to grab a splendid win against Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic in a stand up striking fight..
Fedor fought in the heavyweight, despite being smaller than most of his opponents (only 1.82 meters) and with a weight of 103 kilograms. Japaneses tried different combinations of fighters that could break Emelianenko, but the Russian remained undefeated and became a legend.

Japanese tried to break Emelianenko by making him fight against giant freaks like Zuluzhino or Hong Mam Choi, but the Last Emperor beat everyone that was put in front of him with ease. Fedor Emelianenko defeated 4 former UFC champions (Mike Coleman, Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski), the incumbent Pride champion (Nogueira) and 3 K1 champions (Mark Hunt, Semmy Schilt and Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic).

Most of MMA fans were largely disappointed with his booking against Emelianenko. Rizin reportedly reached out to several heavyweights, but contractual obligations prevented a more promising bout.

Emelianenko vs. Singh will top off an entire weekend of Japanese MMA and K-1 action.
Bookmakers ratings for the fight: Emelianenko 1.13; Singh 6.

So just in few hours we will watch the return of MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko to big fights.