Fedor Emelianenko is back.
The Russian MMA fighter considered by many to be the greatest of all time at heavyweight—if not all weight classes—earned a first-round knockout victory Thursday in his return to action after more than three years in retirement. It happened at Rizin Fighting Federation 2, the new Japan-based promotion that held its first event Dec. 29 and came into existence shortly after Emelianenko announced his return to the sport.
The 39-year-old Emelianenko (35-4-1) handled relative MMA unknown Jaideep Singh (2-1) in approximately three minutes. Ground-and-pound was the key to victory.
Official #RIZIN Result: Fedor Emelianenko def. Jaideep Singh via TKO (Submission to Punches) R1 3:02. https://t.co/447KfBOGDz
— Sherdog.com (@sherdogdotcom) December 31, 2015
Singh, an imposing figure who was a champion kickboxer but a comparative novice in MMA, never appeared to get his offense going. Emelianenko landed a takedown after approximately 90 seconds of low-output standup action.
After Emelianenko connected with the takedown, he quickly achieved full mount, from which position he began to work his vaunted ground-and-pound. Singh had few, if any, responses to the position or the strikes, and tapped out to punches to end the contest.
Despite the fact that it was a fairly one-sided affair, Emelianenko‘s return to MMA was a much-ballyhooed occasion among hardcore MMA fans. The longtime Pride heavyweight champion retired in 2012 after three consecutive wins over less-than-elite opponents.
Emelianenko has never competed in the UFC. The closest he came was the now-defunct Strikeforce promotion. The Russian entered that promotion on a nine-year-long unbeaten streak and won one fight there but later lost what was then considered a shocking upset to Fabricio Werdum. Werdum has since gone on to claim ownership of the UFC heavyweight title.
Rizin promotion officials made no immediate announcement regarding a potential next opponent for Emelianenko, or any potential timeline for such a matchup.
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