Alexander Emelianenko is the brother of MMA icon Fedor Emelianenko. He recently chose to compete in his third bout of the year.
This is particularly problematic due to the fact that Emelianenko has been struggling in the cage and some suspect he’s starting to suffer from brain issues making him prone to getting knocked down.
Emelianenko made the decision to compete in a match before New Year’s Eve. Russian YouTube star Svyatoslav Kovalenko ended up being his opponent. Aleksander was substantially heavier than his opponent – roughly about 30 kg (66 lbs) heavier.
Svyatoslav Kovalenko previously tried his hand at MMA during MMA series 53 this June in Russia. His bout against Sergey Bobryshev ended in a no contest after just 4 minutes in round 1. His official weight is 77kg – ie 170lbs or welterweight.
Prior to that he had a single amateur showing against Alexander Zarubin on the Datsik vs. Monson card and ended up winning via submission.
In the popular days of Japan’s PRIDE FC, heavyweight Aleksander Emelianenko was a formidable opponent. He was pitted against competitors like Mirko Crocop, Josh Barnett, Sergei Kharitonov, and Fabricio Werdum in the shark tank despite having minimal experience
Emelianenko tested positive for Hepatitis B which resulted in a career-ending situation. This prevented him from competing in any nation with legal sports safety regulations. Additionally, he was found guilty on serious charges in 2015 . He was given a 4.5-year prison term but was freed after 18 months.
Emelianenko had a five win spree in Russian and Chechen MMA organizations after getting released. Before losing to Datsik, he had won a bare-knuckle boxing match in February 2022 by decision against Jeff Monson.
However, Kovalenko won the match by a split decision.
Former kickboxer and mixed martial artist Vyacheslav Datsik beat MMA veteran Alexander Emelianenko in a boxing event of the hardcore league held at CSKA arena on 24th September.
Datsik won by knockout in the opening moments of the first round. He surged forward and delivered a thunderous blow to knock Emelianenko out.
Quick KO victory for Vyacheslav Datsik over Alexander Emelianenko pic.twitter.com/IWw2mcwzDo
— Matysek (@Matysek88) September 24, 2022
Vyacheslav Datsik wanted to take the match to 2nd round. He said,
“I wanted to make it to the second round, to make fun of Sanya. But he came out, everything boiled up and exploded right away.”
The knockout loss surprised Alexander Emelianenko, who immediately demanded a rematch.
He got his rematch in an esoteric setting, at Hardcore Boxing conference.
But Emelianenko seems unable to withstand the toll MMA/Boxing take on a body. Perhaps it’s time to retire now that he’s suffered a devastating defeat to a combat sports novice.
A “bad chin”, “suspect chin”, or “glass jaw” refers to fighters with limited ability to absorb punishment to the chin or jaw. Some boxing experts, such as Teddy Atlas, believe it to be a mindframe. Others believe this ‘shut down’ of consciousness is the brain’s way of protecting itself once the connective tissues around the brain are gone.
Emelianenko is 41 years old and has an MMA record consisting of 28 wins and 9 losses, 1 draw – not counting this last outing or any of his boxing and bare knuckle boxing events.
He last won a professional MMA bout in 2018 against Viktor Pesta.