The debut of Ivan Emelianenko
Here are the highlights of the fight videos:
Ivan’s brother, Fedor, recently retired from professional MMA competition. “The Last Emperor” told reporters how it felt to lose to Ryan Bader at Bellator 290 (h/t MMAJunkie).
“On the one hand, I am sad, of course, that I did not go through the fight as I wanted,” said Emelianenko. “But on the other hand, I am very happy that all of these people here cheering for me, and all of these veteran fighters who have walked with me for the last almost 20 years are here to greet me. I am very happy. I am very happy to see all the fighters that are here to support me. “
“The Last Emperor” later appeared on MMAFighting’s The MMA Hour and revealed his favorite fight of his legendary career.
“The first fight with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira,” said Emelianenko.
Fedor’s pro-MMA career ended with a record of 40-7, 1 NC. He won the gold medal in the Fighting Championships and the Pride Rings.
It is interesting that Ivan is now following in the footsteps of his brothers, Fedor and Alexander, given his age. Time will tell if this is just a one-off for Ivan, or if he sticks to it after beating a former Russian judo champion.
Alexander fought with the same card as Ivan did with a somewhat dubious outcome. Alexander fought the Russian video blogger Evgeny Ershov, and at first the Internet star achieved a victory by TKO. The match was restarted at Ershov’s request, and Alexander picked up the request.