Fedor Emelianenko – Top 3 Submission Victories
One name – Fedor. It is impossible to talk about the history of MMA and not mention Fedor Emelianenko. He is known as one of the greatest heavyweight fighters in the history of the sport, if not the greatest MMA fighter of all time. Fedor, AKA “The Last Emperor” will take the walk one final time this Saturday as he faces Ryan Bader at Bellator 290 in California for his 48th and final professional MMA fight.
Fedor began his MMA career in 2000 in Russia. Over 23 years he put together an impressive 47 fight career. He finished 15 of those fights by submission due to his decorated Sambo career and really showed he was a well rounded fighter. When opponents were scared of the takedown, Fedor would knock them out with a blitz attack accumulation to an impressive 16 kos.
Below are three of his greatest and most famous submission victories….
3. Fedor submits former UFC Heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia by Rear Naked Choke.
The fight headlined the very first Affliction card on PPV. Fedor dropped Sylvia instantly. Fedor swarmed the former UFC champ with ground and pound. Sylvia turtled up and Fedor took his back. In a total fight time of 36 seconds Fedor choked out Tim Sylvia.
2. Fedor submits Kevin Randleman by Kimura in Pride at the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix.
Kevin Randleman took Fedor down right away showing off his superior collegiate wrestling skills. After trying to get back to his feet, Fedor exposed his back and Randleman took Fedor on a wild suplex ride smashing the back of his neck into the mat. Randleman again got on top BUT Fedor quickly reversed the position. Less than a minute later, Fedor locked up a beautiful Kimura submission which forced Randleman to tap. All that action and the fight was less than 2 minutes. Fedor would advance to face Naoya Ogawa in the semifinals.
1. Fedor submits Hong-man Choi Armbar at Yarennoka on New Years Eve!
Hong- man Choi stood 7’2″ and weighed 350 lbs. Fedor was 6 foot 230 lbs. Fedor started the fight trying to take the giant down but ended up on the bottom. Fedor locked up an armbar within a minute but couldn’t finish. They both got back to their feet and danced around. Fedor again tried to take Choi down but was driven right to his back. Choi started throwing wild punches and Fedor locked up a tight Armbar that Choi could not escape. This victory extended his record to 28-1-1.
Honorable mentions…..
Two armbars over Marc Coleman. The first was at Pride Total Elimination in 2004’s Heavyweight Grand Prix. The second was at Pride 32 two years later. Also, as an honorable mention is his kimura victory over Mark Hunt defending his Pride Heavyweight championship on New Years Eve 2006.
