The remarkable career of Fedor Emelianenko came to an end this past Saturday at Bellator 290, where the former Pride legend was TKO’d in Round 1 by heavyweight champion Ryan Bader in his retirement fight.
At 46, Emelianenko may have hung up his gloves later than he should’ve, but there’s no denying his significance to MMA. And Emelianenko certainly has a strong case to be the greatest heavyweight of all time.
An entire generation may not be aware, but Emelianenko was the pound-for-pound king for a lengthy period of time in the 2000s. While never competed in the UFC, he started his career 31-1-1 with wins over former and eventual UFC heavyweight champions in Andrei Arlovski, Mark Coleman, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Kevin Randleman, and Tim Sylvia. It’s why Bellator president Scott Coker heaped so much praise on Emelianenko during Bellator 290 fight week.
