Tag: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado

Fedor Emelianenko Could Potentially Fight Wanderlei Silva For $2 Million

Legendary heavyweight Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko last competed at EFN 50 on June 17, 2016 against ex-UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado. Heading into the bout, many had expected the 39-year-old Emelianenko to maul Maldonado before potentially finally signing with the UFC after years and years of rumors and negotiations. Then the fight happened, however,

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Legendary heavyweight Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko last competed at EFN 50 on June 17, 2016 against ex-UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado. Heading into the bout, many had expected the 39-year-old Emelianenko to maul Maldonado before potentially finally signing with the UFC after years and years of rumors and negotiations. Then the fight happened, however, and “The Last Emperor” looked like a shell of the man that had run rampant through PRIDE’s heavyweight division for nearly 10 years.

Despite walking away with a majority decision, Emelianenko was highly criticized for the victory as many felt as if he hadn’t deserved it. After the fight, talks between “The Last Emperor” and the UFC seemed to die down, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be retiring. In fact, he could potentially fight one more time in 2016.

As of now, the promotion in which Emelianenko will fight for is still unclear, but Bloody Elbow recently reported that the Russian could once again link up with RIZIN Fighting Federation. A report from Russia’s izvestia.ru confirmed this rumor, reporting that Emelianenko could potentially receive $2 million to fight on December 31, 2016. An opponent has yet to be named, but the reports indicated that PRIDE and UFC veteran Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva could be an option.

Silva is most known for his run in PRIDE, but he was most recently seen competing in the UFC back in 2013. In the years since, he has gone through brutal battles with both the promotion as well as the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), but he has been freed from his contract in recent memory.

Would you like to see these two legends square off in the coming months?

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Maldonado’s Appeal Still Alive After Fedor’s Judge Friend Gets Ousted

Legendary heavyweight Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko was nearly finished in the first round of his main event fight with ex-UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado at June 17’s EFN 50. Emelianenko, bloodied and battered, would ultimately recover and fight back to earn a questionable decision victory. Many had felt as if Maldonado had gotten the

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Legendary heavyweight Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko was nearly finished in the first round of his main event fight with ex-UFC light heavyweight Fabio Maldonado at June 17’s EFN 50. Emelianenko, bloodied and battered, would ultimately recover and fight back to earn a questionable decision victory.

Many had felt as if Maldonado had gotten the better of Emelianenko, and the situation became ever more skeptical when it was revealed that the referee and judges controlling the fight were from the Russian MMA union, which is headed by non-other than “The Last Emperor” himself.

In the aftermath of the controversial decision, it has been made clear that Maldonado will fight the verdict. Check out the full appeal from the Brazilian slugger below:

Hello.

I am Stefano Sartori, manager of Brazilian MMA fighter Fabio Maldonado and we are writing this email to officially appeal about the result of my client fight against Fedor Emilianenko in June 17 on the Main Event of Fight Nights 50.

We watched the tape many times with cool head and we realized there is no way we lost the fight. It’s either draw or Fabio’s victory.

We won R1 with a clear 10-8, not to mention that everyone else in the world besides Official Referee would have stopped that fight. Fedor was tough and came back to won the R2 10-9. The last one is really close and could go either way. So it’s either Fabio’s victory or a draw.

We were extremely surprised to have learned that all the judges of the bout were Russian and they all are employed by non other than Fedor Emelianenko who is the president of Russian MMA Union that sanctioned these judges.
Even worse, Radmir Gabdullin who was the head judge of the bout is the Russian MMA Union’s vice-president. You can see it here http://unionmma.ru/structure/

If it is not a clear case of conflict of interest, I don’t know what to call this. To have a fair judgement of this fight it is required to have independent international judges and that is what we claim with this official letter.

Since mister Gabdullin said to the Russian Press that he would refuse to accept our appeal and considering that we feel that Russian judges would be under too much pressure on this case, we have no other choice but to appeal to World MMA Association that is an umbrella organization with Russian MMA union being part of it.

Before finishing I want to say that I truly believe that Russian MMA Judges haven’t done anything to intentionally harm my client. The conflict of interest, to my eyes, is natural when you judge someone who is personally so close to you. That’s why we respectfully ask for another referee team to watch and judge this fight.

Best Regards,
Stefano Sartori

Given that Emelianenko has inside connections with the Russian MMA union, it may seem as if Maldonado has no chance with his appeal, but that may not be the case. The World MMA Association, which controls the Russian MMA union, has made a noteworthy decision that should keep Maldonado’s appeal live.

According to a statement, the WMMA, who recently accepted the Brazilian’s appeal, stated that they will be temporarily suspending head judge Radmir Gabdullin from his position. Gabdullin, who happens to be a close friend and former training partner of Emelianenko’s, previously denied the appeal attempt.

Stay tuned to LowKickMMA as more news unfolds on the situation?

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Top Five UFC Opponents For Fedor Emelianenko

Heading into his most recent fight at EFN 50 last Friday (June 17, 2016), legendary heavyweight Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko was reportedly “closer than ever” to signing with the UFC. But then the fight took place, and the situation became quite a bit cloudier. Perhaps unsurprising to many, a 38-year-old Emelianenko simply looked like

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Heading into his most recent fight at EFN 50 last Friday (June 17, 2016), legendary heavyweight Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko was reportedly “closer than ever” to signing with the UFC.

But then the fight took place, and the situation became quite a bit cloudier.

Perhaps unsurprising to many, a 38-year-old Emelianenko simply looked like a fighter far past his prime, and he certainly didn’t look like the version of himself that was considered to be the very best heavyweight of all-time who went nearly ten years without surrendering a defeat.

Taking on a much smaller Fabio Maldonado, Emelianenko was bloodied, battered, and nearly finished early before recovering and fighting back to secure a highly questionable majority decision. In the aftermath of the bout, many were calling for the Russian legend to retire, and it appeared as if far less fans wanted to see him finally compete under the UFC banner.

While it’s clear that his skills aren’t where they once were, the UFC is a business, and Emelianenko is and always has been a huge draw. UFC President Dana White even said that his fight, which was broadcasted live on UFC Fight Pass, did very well from a ratings standpoint.

Emelianenko’s future with the UFC is unclear, but it’s quite an interesting time to look at the top five UFC opponents for “The Last Emperor” if he were to indeed sign with the promotion (listed in no particular order).

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Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado Full Fight Video Highlights

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

The post Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabio Maldonado Full Fight Video Highlights appeared first on LowKick MMA.

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 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:

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EFN 50 Results: Fedor Emelianenko Outlasts Fabio Maldonado In Bloody War

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

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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)

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