Yemilianenko Fyodor (47, Russia), who caused the mixed martial arts (MMA) boom in the early 2000s, finally took off his gloves. In his heyday, he refused to enter the world’s best organization, the UFC, which defeated many strong people with a sense of intimidation that he would not lose to anyone, and unfortunately ended his career with consecutive losses.
Fyodor lost to Ryan Bader by TKO in 2 minutes and 33 seconds of the first round in the US MMA Bellator 290 heavyweight (-120 kg) title match held at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, USA on the 5th. This match was Fyodor’s retirement match and revenge match, but he left the cage unfortunately without reaping the beauty of the end. Fyodor ended his career with a record of 40 wins, 7 losses and 1 null.
◆ Fyodor solidifying the image of an invincible fighter
Fyodor reigned as the strongest MMA player from 2000 to 2009, recording 31 wins, 1 loss and 1 null in Japan and the United States. Fyodor defeated Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (47, Brazil), who was the strongest at the time, twice, as well as Heath Haring (45), Semi Schult (50, Netherlands), and Mark Coleman (59, USA). showed that In 2005, he created a great match with Mirko Filipović (Cro Cop, 49, Croatia), ‘Flame High Kick’.
However, Pride FC, where Fyodor was active, collapsed. Pride FC stars such as Cro Cop, Nogueira, Bandalay Silva, Mauricio Shogun Hua, and Quinton Rampage Jackson moved to the UFC. But Fyodor chose a new group.
Dana White (54, USA) UFC president also wooed Fyodor. From his first UFC fight, he even made an unconventional offer to fight the champion. Randy Couture (60, USA), who was the UFC heavyweight champion at the time, also hoped to fight 먹튀검증Fyodor, but he did not stand in the octagon.
Not in the UFC, Fedor was strong. In Affliction, Fyodor caught former UFC champion Tim Silvia (47, USA) with a rear naked choke in 36 seconds of the first round. He put Andrei Arlovski (45, Belarus), who also wrapped up the UFC belt, in one round.
Fyodor has a crack in his career
After that, Fyodor started walking downhill. It all started with Fyodor’s first ever tap-out loss to Fabricio Werdum (46, Brazil) with a triangle choke. In December 2000, Fyodor, who had never lost except for the match stopped due to bleeding by Kosaka Tsuyoshi (53, Japan), collapsed and cracked the marketability.
In the match against Antonio Silva (44, Brazil) that followed, Fyodor was baptized and collapsed miserably. When he lost to Dan Henderson (53, USA), who was one weight lower, by KO in the first round, and suffered three consecutive losses, the UFC’s interest in Fyodor decreased.
Since then, Fyodor has not been able to face off against the strong. He won victories over Frank Mir (44, USA) and Quinton Jackson, but at the time Mir was a fighter released from the UFC, and Jackson was a fighter operating under one weight class.
◆“Fyodor, you are not the greatest fighter” As Fyodor,
who marked a milestone in MMA history, took off his gloves, a controversy about his qualification as the greatest fighter in history began.
Fedor faced a heavyweight with a small body of 182 cm and 107 kg. Unlike other players, he maintained an attitude that did not provoke or provoke opponents. Jiu-Jitsu created a trend called Ground and Pound in MMA, where Jiu-Jitsu was the mainstream, and there was never a rumor about banned substances.
But the end of my career was disappointing. He showed an extreme performance at Pride FC, but refused to compete in the UFC, which is considered the best team, and suffered consecutive losses.
As the fighters who transferred from Pride FC to UFC struggled, rumors spread that Pride FC fighters were overrated. UFC President White also gave a harsh evaluation. “I don’t want to say anything bad about Fyodor, who just retired, but I never once thought Fyodor was the greatest fighter,” he said. said.
◆“Fyodor is the greatest fighter in history”
However, it is difficult to find a player with a career as bold as Fyodor in MMA history. He didn’t only play in the UFC, but in his heyday, Fyodor defeated all the fighters who were called the strongest of the time. Many fighters also claim that Fyodor is the greatest fighter in history.
After Fyodor’s final match, many legends stepped into the cage to commemorate his retirement. It featured Mark Coleman, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Josh Barnett, Randy Couture, and Mark Coleman. Eternal rival Cro Cop also regretted Fyodor’s retirement. “To me and to many people, you are a symbol of martial arts and one of the best fighters in history,” he said. “It was a great honor and privilege to meet Fyodor in the ring.”
Before his retirement, Fyodor said, “I want to be remembered as a fighter who met fans with his skills and performance, not trash talk or accidents.”