The fractured relationship between legendary MMA heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and his younger brother Alexander has taken another public turn, with Fedor calling out Alexander on social media for displaying medals that apparently don’t belong to him.
In a recent video shared by Fedor, Alexander can be seen holding an array of competition medals while stating, “Hello everyone, I show you all the medals that I won for my sports career in the amateur team.”
However, Fedor quickly disputed his brother’s claim. He added a caption in Russian urging his brother to focus on sport, not touch his medals, and stop deceiving his fans.
Fedor wrote: “Alexander, focus on sports, don’t touch my medals, and don’t deceive your fans!”
The relationship between the brothers has been publicly strained for nearly a decade, with both siblings making their discord known through various statements and interviews.
Alexander, who competed during the PRIDE era, initially showed considerable promise in his early career. His first seven years saw defeats only against top-tier opponents including Mirko Crocop, Josh Barnett, and Fabricio Werdum. However, he never managed to step out from under the considerable shadow cast by his older brother, who remains widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweights in MMA history.
In 2017, Alexander claimed that Fedor hadn’t spoken to him in ten years, placing blame on what he called “sycophants” surrounding his brother. Fedor’s response was cutting and direct. “Sycophant? That’s you, Judas. I feel sorry that people who were close to you and supported you in hard moments are now suffering. I personally have apologized for you to dozens of people,” he wrote in an open letter at the time.
The younger Emelianenko has been candid about their differences in more recent interviews.
“We have different upbringings. We have different views on life. We have everything different. What unites us? We have different jobs,” Alexander stated when discussing their relationship. He made clear he feels no obligation to reach out, saying, “If a person would like my congratulations, my communication, my attention, he would have already been a long time ago.”
Alexander’s life has taken him down a considerably different path than his brother’s. In 2014, he was imprisoned for a serious offense involving his housekeeper, serving time until 2017. Since his release, he has continued competing in smaller promotions, compiling a 6-2-1 record in MMA and 3-2 in boxing.
Meanwhile, a documentary about Alexander’s life created by award-winning Russian filmmaker Valeria Gai Germanica remains unreleased after Russian authorities denied it a distribution certificate. The government deemed the content too disturbing for public viewing. Germanica has announced plans to release the film for free if the trailer reaches one million views, hoping to bring the project to audiences after years of financial uncertainty.
