Having been through the roughest time in his career and personal life, Aleksander Emelianenko just came back in a big way…
Younger brother of Fedor and former Pride FC heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko had some hard times the last few years. Imprisoned for three years for allegedly assaulting his maid, Emelianenko’s MMA career was all but over.
After 18 months Emelianenko was released early for good behavior. The feared striker once known in Pride FC as a legitimate contender looked out of shape and tired. Just months later it was announced Aleks was already in talks with numerous promotions for a return bout.
In July of this year WCFA announced Emelianenko would be facing Brazilian Geronimo Mondragon dos Santos in a heavyweight fight. After three years of inactivity and prison time, was Aleks going to be even a shade of his former self?
Santos and has been more active lately, also adding to the intrigue surrounding their fight.
Result & Video Below
Looking to return to a form that once made him avoided, Aleks stepped in with the intent to finish dos Santos. Moving quickly on his feet, Aleksander managed to avoid the clumsy attacks of the bigger man.
Mondragon just looked very muscled, and not much more. Emelianenko connected with a few counter hooks and left hands before dropping Geronimo with some straight right hands.
Watch the fight video below:
WCFA 42 Results List
Preliminary Card.
– Zaurbek Bashaev def. Flavio Rodrigo Magon via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
– Arbi Madaev def. Vladimir Gunzhu via TKO (Punches) – Round 1, 4:35.
– Haseyn Daudov def. Julian Lane via MD (29-28, 29-28, 29-29).
– Svyatoslav Shabanov vs. Akhmed Shervaniev ended in a Draw.
– Evgenii Goncharov def. Igor Sliusarchuk via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Main Card.
– Delson Heleno def. Nodar Kudukhashvili via Submission (RNC) – Round 1, 2:50.
– Alexey Efremov def. Ildemar Alcantara via KO (Elbows) – Round 3, 0:20.
– Zurab Betergaraev def. Shota Akulashvili via TKO (Corner Stop) – Round 2, 5:00.
– Said Nurmagomedov def. Luis Alberto Nogueira via the UD.
– Maxim Grishin def. Dirlei Broenstrup via UD (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).
– Alexander Emelianenko def. Geronimo dos Santos via TKO (Punches) – Round 1, 0:36.
– Mikhail Malyutin def. Fabiano Silva via the UD (30-26, 29-27, 29-28).
Another rather brutal finish came from Alexey Efremov, as he knocked out UFC veteran Ildemar Alcantara with elbows:
There’s Another Emelianenko Brother?!?
According to Aleks during a somewhat old interview with Vice, there’s a third Emelianenko brother named Ivan, but he’s ‘good for nothing:’
Ivan is good-for-nothing. He doesn’t want to compete in MMA. He is 25 now and the doors of MMA are closed for him. He doesn’t know how to fight, to punch, to wrestle. He is sitting and eating at our mother’s place or going to St. Petersburg to visit his friends who live at a dormitory or working as a security guard at a store or elsewhere. There is too much of a responsibility and it is terrifying to enter any arena under the name of Emelianenko.
Neither Fedor nor myself had easy fights. Same responsibility is with Ivan, especially when he has two brothers who can beat anyone. That is why he got scared. It is very scary when you enter the ring. Some go out and don’t know which God they should pray to so not to faint and be able to get to the ring and fight either Fedor or myself. We had the record of 104.000 people in Japan sitting and watching our fights in Pride.
