Is Fedor Emelianenko the greatest heavyweight of all time?
As Fedor Emelianenko’s swansong looms, is he the greatest heavyweight of all time?
Bellator MMA kicks off 2023 with Bellator 290 this Saturday, Feb. 4 at the KIA Forum in Inglewood, CA. The main event is a rematch between Bellator heavyweight champion Ryan Bader and Fedor Emelianenko. Bader knocked Emelianenko out in 2019 to become the champion, however, the story surrounding this fight isn’t so much about the rematch but rather about the challenger.
Emelianenko will make his 48th and final walk to the cage this weekend, with the former PRIDE, WAMMA, and Affliction heavyweight champion announcing his retirement from the sport. While Emelianenko has retired before, and subsequently come back to win more fights, at 46 years old, this retirement is likely permanent, even if he avenges his loss to become the new Bellator heavyweight champion.
With this being MMA fans final time watching Emelianenko compete, the question that has surrounded his whole career is still left to be answered. Perhaps there is not a better time to do it, given that this seems like the definitive end to one of the greatest combat sports careers we have ever seen. That question is of course if Emelianenko is the greatest heavyweight of all time, and while there are arguments to be made for others, it is unlikely that anyone can match the levels of performance, achievements, or admiration that Emelianenko received in his 22 years as a pro. With the curtains finally closing on the Russian’s outstanding run, here is why Emelianenko is the greatest heavyweight of all time.
Why Fedor Emelianenko is the greatest heavyweight of all time
Our discussion begins with what Emelianenko brought to MMA that made him so special to watch, and so invincible from the start. Despite being undersized for a heavyweight, measured at 6 feet and 230 pounds, Emelianenko’s all-around game made him almost impossible for opponents to figure out. From his 40 wins, 16 have come by way of knockout, 15 by submission and only a mere nine went to the judges’ scorecard. Not only did this make all his fights a must-watch but it meant that he could go toe to toe, strike for strike with anyone.
In a fight not many expected him to win, Emelianenko would face Antonio Nogueira, who was deemed invincible thanks to his elite jiu-jitsu for a heavyweight. Emelianenko would find himself in Nogueira’s guard quickly. This would often signal the beginning of the end for most but Emelianenko, as calm and poised as ever, utilized ground and pound to pummel Nogueria for 20 minutes and win the PRIDE heavyweight title. When he faced perhaps the greatest kickboxer of all time in Mirko Cro Cop, Emelianenko mixed takedowns with a counter-punching strategy to dismantle the Croatian. Even when he was up against much bigger opponents, such as the 6 foot 11’ Semmy Schilt or the 7 foot 2’ Hongman Choi, Emelianenko always found a way to bring his opponents down and eventually, out.
Being a master of sports in both judo and sambo definitely helps but it does not give an answer for how powerful he hit, how poised he was as a fighter, or how capable he was on the ground, using submissions or ground and pound to devastating effects. Whenever Emelianenko fought, it was impossible to predict the outcome, although the result was always the same. Another victory for Emelianenko
If excitement or being a master practitioner of MMA isn’t enough of a reason, let’s take the statistical approach as to why Emelianenko is the greatest of all time. He was undefeated for 10 years, a total of 28 fights, in the hardest division to remain unbeaten. In a weight class where one punch can end anyone’s night, Emelianenko somehow managed to reign supreme over all other heavyweights, and boy did he fight some of the best to ever do it.
PRIDE’s heavyweight division is perhaps the most stacked MMA division of all time, with legends and pioneers plying their trade in Japan during the noughties. Antonio Nogueira, Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Hunt, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, and Heath Herring are just some of the killers that Emelianenko defeated during his unbeaten run. He ruled over PRIDE with an iron fist, winning the heavyweight belt in 2003 and never losing it, even picking up the PRIDE heavyweight grand prix title a year later, with Nogueira once again his victim.
Even after PRIDE was gone, Emelianenko continued to show why he was the best in the world, defeating UFC champions Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski in dominant fashion, continuing to add names to his immense collection. A heavyweight champion across three different promotions and the longest reigning lineal heavyweight champion of all time, even when his career seemed doomed in the mid-2010s, Emelianenko still found wins over Pedro Rizzo, Chael Sonnen, Frank Mir, and Quinton Jackson. Basically, Emelianenko has been among the best heavyweights in the world since his shock win over Nogueira in 2003, and at 46, still finds himself with an opportunity to win his fourth different heavyweight title, an accomplishment that nobody else can claim.
If that is still not enough to convince you, then let’s take the word of some of the sport’s greatest fighters and most influential voices. Both George St. Pierre and Jose Aldo consider him the greatest of all time, and even Khabib Nurmargomedov has him on his GOAT’s list, a sentiment shared with Mike Tyson and Chuck Norris. Highly respected referee John McCarthy compared the impact that Emelianenko has had on MMA as similar to what Muhammad Ali did for boxing or Wayne Gretzky did for ice hockey.
Even Dana White, who is often not one to look at past mistakes, has revealed his inability to book Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar for the UFC heavyweight title as his biggest regret. Emelianenko whether you want to believe it or not is your favorite fighter’s favorite fighter.
As we prepare to see Emelianenko compete one last time, his place amongst the best of all time cannot be mistaken. His excellent well-rounded MMA game that made every fight he was in a must-watch, the long, long list of accolades and accomplishments, as well as a resume as good as anyone’s, it’s hard to picture a world where Emelianenko isn’t considered the greatest heavyweight of all time.
For what it’s worth, he might be the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
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