Although it may not be the greatest summarized indication of the fight, embedded above are some of the highlights from the wild Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado main event from the EFN 50 event in St. Petersburg, Russia this weekend.
The bout has been a highly talked about subject following the wild action from bell to bell, as well as the questionable majority decision ruling that went in favor of the Russian MMA legend.
Below is the MMANews.com recap of the action that went down inside the three round battle that took place on Friday.
In the main event of the evening, MMA legend and former longtime PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko fought in an epic, memorable battle with former UFC contender Fabio Maldonado.
The opening round of the Fedor-Maldonado bout was one for the ages, as Fedor brought the onslaught from the opening bell, only to quickly find himself nearly being stopped by Maldonado. Fedor was dropped and rocked multiple times standing in the round, and took a ton of punishment from Maldonado on the ground as well. Fedor was bleeding profusely, but survived and managed to get out of the first round, which Maldonado won huge.
Things didn’t calm down any in the second round, as both guys were tired, but managed to have another very eventful round. Fedor attempted a flying knee early in the round, which was quite the sight, before connecting and hurting Maldonado with a number of big shots. Things got a lot more competitive in the second half of the round, however.
Finally, what will likely end up being a candidate for Fight of the Year in 2016, Fedor and Maldonado reached the third and final round. Both guys were tired and their faces were a complete mess as a result of the big shots each landed in the first two rounds.
Throughout the majority of the final round, it was Fedor blasting away at Maldonado, seemingly trying to finish the fight to ensure a victory after the hellacious first round he endured. Once again, however, there were several moments where Maldonado landed big shots on Fedor as well. While the fight may not have had a finish, you certainly can’t say both guys didn’t try their hardest to get one.
In the end, it came down to the judges scorecards and despite what most would score as a pretty clear-cut 10-8 first round in favor of Maldonado, apparently the judges felt different. The scores came in 28-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Fedor, giving the MMA legend the victory over Maldonado by Majority Decision.
For Fabio Maldonado’s unfiltered, in-depth take on the fight, click here. For post-fight comments from Fedor, including his plans regarding whether or not he will continue fighting, click here.
https://youtu.be/TxN8Bdmd0wY
https://youtu.be/_skdncsqQHQ
Although it may not be the greatest summarized indication of the fight, embedded above are some of the highlights from the wild Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado main event from the EFN 50 event in St. Petersburg, Russia this weekend.
The bout has been a highly talked about subject following the wild action from bell to bell, as well as the questionable majority decision ruling that went in favor of the Russian MMA legend.
Below is the MMANews.com recap of the action that went down inside the three round battle that took place on Friday.
In the main event of the evening, MMA legend and former longtime PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko fought in an epic, memorable battle with former UFC contender Fabio Maldonado.
The opening round of the Fedor-Maldonado bout was one for the ages, as Fedor brought the onslaught from the opening bell, only to quickly find himself nearly being stopped by Maldonado. Fedor was dropped and rocked multiple times standing in the round, and took a ton of punishment from Maldonado on the ground as well. Fedor was bleeding profusely, but survived and managed to get out of the first round, which Maldonado won huge.
Things didn’t calm down any in the second round, as both guys were tired, but managed to have another very eventful round. Fedor attempted a flying knee early in the round, which was quite the sight, before connecting and hurting Maldonado with a number of big shots. Things got a lot more competitive in the second half of the round, however.
Finally, what will likely end up being a candidate for Fight of the Year in 2016, Fedor and Maldonado reached the third and final round. Both guys were tired and their faces were a complete mess as a result of the big shots each landed in the first two rounds.
Throughout the majority of the final round, it was Fedor blasting away at Maldonado, seemingly trying to finish the fight to ensure a victory after the hellacious first round he endured. Once again, however, there were several moments where Maldonado landed big shots on Fedor as well. While the fight may not have had a finish, you certainly can’t say both guys didn’t try their hardest to get one.
In the end, it came down to the judges scorecards and despite what most would score as a pretty clear-cut 10-8 first round in favor of Maldonado, apparently the judges felt different. The scores came in 28-28, 29-28 and 29-28 in favor of Fedor, giving the MMA legend the victory over Maldonado by Majority Decision.
For Fabio Maldonado’s unfiltered, in-depth take on the fight, click here. For post-fight comments from Fedor, including his plans regarding whether or not he will continue fighting, click here.
While Fedor Emelianenko got the nod from the three people who matter the most on Friday evening in his home country of Russia at EFN 50, most people feel that the majority decision ruling in his favor was somewhat of a questionable call. Among those who felt that the ruling was off was Fedor’s opponent on Friday night, former UFC contender Fabio Maldonado.
Shortly after the fight, which took place at the EFN 50 event in St. Petersburg on Friday, Maldonado gave his take on the fight and many of the controversies that came out of it with MMAFighting.com.
“I have the utmost respect for Fedor, he’s the most humble fighter I’ve ever met in my life, and I’m happy that I fought here. But I think I won the fight, right?” Maldonado told MMA Fighting a few hours after the fight. “I didn’t lose that third round. In the worst-case scenario, give him the third round and it’s a draw. He didn’t win that fight. Judges saw what nobody else did. He was better in the second round, but that was not a 10-8. And I have no doubt the first round was a 10-8.
“For the love of God, he almost fell several times. Everybody knows (the first round) was at least 10-8, or even a 10-7. He punched me close to the fence, but I was there because I really wanted him to attack.”
Maldonado also spoke about some of the controversy coming out of the wild first round, which saw Emelianenko nearly finished at several points.
“He did stop the fight. The referee touched me, stopped the fight standing to give Fedor his mouthpiece,” Maldonado said. “He stopped the fight when I was attacking. Man… It would be hard to win a decision here, we knew that. But the referee did a good job. People talk about Mario Yamasaki, criticize him, but he always did a great job when I was fighting. He let me get beat up by Glover Teixeira, and stopped it against (Stipe) Miocic. So he did a great job with me. It wasn’t a mistake to not stop this fight, but he did a mistake by stopping it to give Fedor his mouthpiece that time.
“But it wouldn’t be crazy if he wanted to stop it,” he continued. “For less than that, the referee stopped his fight against Dan Henderson. He went back up and down several times yesterday. But even when he was dizzy, it was hard to catch him, he kept dodging my punches. Holy sh-t, that’s a tough man. His jab tasted like blood. Any slap he threw got me off balance.”
While Fedor Emelianenko got the nod from the three people who matter the most on Friday evening in his home country of Russia at EFN 50, most people feel that the majority decision ruling in his favor was somewhat of a questionable call. Among those who felt that the ruling was off was Fedor’s opponent on Friday night, former UFC contender Fabio Maldonado.
Shortly after the fight, which took place at the EFN 50 event in St. Petersburg on Friday, Maldonado gave his take on the fight and many of the controversies that came out of it with MMAFighting.com.
“I have the utmost respect for Fedor, he’s the most humble fighter I’ve ever met in my life, and I’m happy that I fought here. But I think I won the fight, right?” Maldonado told MMA Fighting a few hours after the fight. “I didn’t lose that third round. In the worst-case scenario, give him the third round and it’s a draw. He didn’t win that fight. Judges saw what nobody else did. He was better in the second round, but that was not a 10-8. And I have no doubt the first round was a 10-8.
“For the love of God, he almost fell several times. Everybody knows (the first round) was at least 10-8, or even a 10-7. He punched me close to the fence, but I was there because I really wanted him to attack.”
Maldonado also spoke about some of the controversy coming out of the wild first round, which saw Emelianenko nearly finished at several points.
“He did stop the fight. The referee touched me, stopped the fight standing to give Fedor his mouthpiece,” Maldonado said. “He stopped the fight when I was attacking. Man… It would be hard to win a decision here, we knew that. But the referee did a good job. People talk about Mario Yamasaki, criticize him, but he always did a great job when I was fighting. He let me get beat up by Glover Teixeira, and stopped it against (Stipe) Miocic. So he did a great job with me. It wasn’t a mistake to not stop this fight, but he did a mistake by stopping it to give Fedor his mouthpiece that time.
“But it wouldn’t be crazy if he wanted to stop it,” he continued. “For less than that, the referee stopped his fight against Dan Henderson. He went back up and down several times yesterday. But even when he was dizzy, it was hard to catch him, he kept dodging my punches. Holy sh-t, that’s a tough man. His jab tasted like blood. Any slap he threw got me off balance.”
Although most in the MMA world had the same feeling after the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado fight on Friday, apparently one important person did not.
The consensus opinion from most who watched the EFN 50 main event this weekend is that Fedo…
Although most in the MMA world had the same feeling after the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado fight on Friday, apparently one important person did not.
The consensus opinion from most who watched the EFN 50 main event this weekend is that Fedor should seriously considering retiring, however it doesn’t appear that he feels the same way.
“All is still ahead,” Fedor said at the EFN 50 post-fight press conference after scoring a controversial majority decision victory over Maldonado in St. Petersburg, Russia. “We will fight on.”
Earlier in the press conference, Emelianenko also spoke about where he plans to fight next, now that his current contract has expired.
“As far as the rest of my career, I will recuperate and go over all of the proposals received,” said the free agent.
Fedor Emelianenko returned to the mixed martial arts cage against Fabio Maldonado today (Fri., June 17, 2016) in the main event of EFN 50 from St. Petersburg, Russia, and things didn’t exactly go as planned for fans of ‘The Last Emperor.’ After the legendary former Pride champion bullrushed the iron-chinned Maldonado with his trademark flurries
After the legendary former Pride champion bullrushed the iron-chinned Maldonado with his trademark flurries in opening moments of the first round, it was UFC veteran Maldonado who gained the advantage with a perfect counter right hand to send Fedor reeling. Endless shots landed, and it appeared the bout could have been called off at any point.
But somehow Emelianenko survived after almost falling down due to exhaustion in the first, and he not only survived, but persevered to batter Maldonado with a barrage of pinpoint strikes to bloody the Brazilian in a fight-changing second round.
Maldonado again landed big in the third and final frame, but Fedor also kept the pressure high with endless combinations, stinging low kicks, and damaging knees on a battered but game Maldonado. In the end, the score was a bit controversial, with many believing the bout should have ended in a 28-28 draw as one judge actually scored it.
But the other two judges scored it 29-28 for Fedor, giving him a closely contested majority decision in his native Russia. It may not have been the statement he was looking to make in order to finally sign with the UFC, but it was a thrilling fight and a true display of Emelianenko’s heart of a champion nonetheless.
Watch the full fight video highlights of the insane bout courtesy of ESPN here:
All-time heavyweight great Fedor Emelianenko returned to the cage today (Fri., June 17, 2016) against UFC veteran Fabio Maldonado in the main event of EFN 50 in St. Petersburg, Russia. With a possible UFC debut looming for the aging “Last Emperor,” many of the MMA world’s eyes were fixated on St. Petersburg for the second bout of
All-time heavyweight great Fedor Emelianenko returned to the cage today (Fri., June 17, 2016) against UFC veteran Fabio Maldonado in the main event of EFN 50 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
With a possible UFC debut looming for the aging “Last Emperor,” many of the MMA world’s eyes were fixated on St. Petersburg for the second bout of Emelianenko’s return since he retired in 2012.
The main event started out in classic Fedor fashion, with ‘The Last Emperor’ pressing the pace with his trademark flurries to batter Maldonado. But the tides soon turned when Emelianenko rushed in a bit careless and Maldonado caught him with a vicious counter right hand that rocked Fedor. The Brazilian ground the legend and poured on a relentless onslaught of ground and pound to turn Emelianenko’s face into a bloody mess, and it looked like the bout could have possibly been stopped on several occasions as ‘The Last Emperor’ literally flopped around the cage.
But it was Maldonado’s face that became a bloody mess in the second round, as Emelianenko found a second win to pressure Maldonado with a laseer-sharp jab, low and high kicks, knees, and endless flurrying combinations. Maldonado’s only offense came in the form of a big shot and some follow-up punches in the last minute of the round.
Emelianenko pushed the action with fast, accurate punches again in the third and scored with more varied strikes, but Maldonado fought back with some heavy shots of his own, scoring with counters and big, wild shots. Emelianenko pushed the action for the better part of the final two rounds, and while Maldonado nearly had him finished in the first, ultimately
Here are the full EFN 50 results.
EFN 50 Main Card (UFC Fight Pass at 11 a.m. ET): Fedor Emelianenko def. Fabio Maldonado via split decision (28-28, 29-28, 29-28) Vitaly Minakov def. Peter Graham via R1 submission (armbar) Kirill Sidelnikov def. Ruben Wolf via unanimous decision Akhmet Aliev def. Matej Truhan via unanimous decision Anatoly Tokov def. Vladimir Filipovic via unanimous decision Sergey Pavlovich def. Chaban Ka via R1 TKO (strikes) Vadim Nemkov def. Mikolaj Rozanski via R1 TKO (strikes) Rasul Mirzaev def. Dioginis Souza via R1 TKO (strikes) Abdulsupyan Alikhanov def. Artem Shokalo via decision Georgy Kichigin def. Vladimir Tyurin via R1 submission (armbar) Jack McGann def. Abdula Dadaev via R1 TKO (strikes) Alexander Dankov def. Dmitriy Maryukhin via R1 TKO (strikes) Valentin Moldavsky def. Daniel Doerrer via R1 submission (guillotine choke) Vasiliy Zubkov def. Sergey Tovkan via submission (triangle choke) Marina Mokhnatkina def. Ekaterina Torbeeva via R1 submission (armbar, 0:25)
On Friday afternoon, the EFN 50 show featuring the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado main event took place from St. Petersburg, Russia and aired live on UFC Fight Pass.
Below are quick-match results of the EFN 50 …
https://youtu.be/mk7CKyxOq3Y
On Friday afternoon, the EFN 50 show featuring the Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado main event took place from St. Petersburg, Russia and aired live on UFC Fight Pass.
Below are quick-match results of the EFN 50 event:
EFN 50: Fedor vs. Maldonado Results
Sergey Pavlovich def. Chaban Ka via TKO (strikes) in R1
Vadim Nemkov def. Mikolaj Rozanski via TKO (strikes) in R1
Rasul Mirzaev def. Dioginis Souza via TKO (strikes) in R1
Abdulsupyan Alikhanov def. Artem Shokalo via decision
Georgy Kichigin def. Vladimir Tyurin via submission (armbar) in R1
Jack McGann def. Abdula Dadaev via TKO (strikes) in R1
Alexander Dankov def. Dmitriy Maryukhin via TKO (strikes) in R1
Valentin Moldavsky def. Daniel Doerrer via submission (guillotine) in R1
Vasiliy Zubkov def. Sergey Tovkan via submission (triangle)
Marina Mokhnatkina def. Ekaterina Torbeeva via submission (armbar) (R1, 0:25)
STILL TO COME …
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado
Vitaly Minakov vs. Peter Graham
Kirill Sidelnikov vs. Ruben Wolf
Akhmet Aliev vs. Matej Truhan
Anatoly Tokov vs. Vladimir Filipovic
