Fedor Emelianenko is a mixed martial arts legend, considered by many the greatest fighter in the history of the sport. Hailing from Russia, “The Last Emperor” began his martial arts training in the disciplines of Combat Sambo and Judo, and was among the world’s greatest Sambo practitioners both before and after his highly successful entrance into mixed martial arts.

At his best, Fedor excels at virtually all of the skills necessary to compete in top-flight MMA, including uncanny quickness and balance for a heavyweight, extraordinary takedown ability, throws and throw defense, a full arsenal of top and bottom game submissions, and legendary ground-and-pound. In recent years Fedor has also contributed one-punch or near one-punch knockouts over some of MMA’s elite heavyweight competition, including Andrei Arlovski and Brett “The Grim” Rogers, further solidifying him as one of the most complete fighters in the sport’s history. Fedor is best known for a trilogy of dominating fights over Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira in Pride (the second of which was called off due to an inadvertent cut), and his legendary win over Mirko “Crocop” Filipovic at Pride Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko has further distinguished himself with his ability to escape from dangerous, potentially fight-ending situations, including a disorienting blow to the head courtesy of Japan’s Kazuyuki “Ironhead” Fujita, a memorable suplex slam onto his head versus Kevin Randleman, and a series of deep cuts and gashes against fighters such as Matt Lindland and Brett Rogers. As such, Fedor’s ability to “find a way to win” can rightly be considered among his greatest championship attributes.

In addition to his physical and technical ability, Emelianenko is known as a master of gameplanning, particularly against Filipovic, whom Fedor elected not only to stand with, but to stalk, in the early goings of the fight, a technique he used to great effect in gaining a decision victory. Also adding to the Russian’s mystique is his reliance on traditional training methods such as outdoor push-ups and pull-ups, dips and extensive road work, frequently at altitude. MMA forum and blog contributors delight in depicting “The Last Emperor” as an indestructible half-man, half-machine humanoid, a la The Terminator.

Fedor's first legitimate loss in roughly a decade came at the hands of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Fabricio "Vai Cavalo" Werdum, who pulled off one of the sport's greatest upsets by landing a Triangle Choke / Armbar combination on Fedor just minutes into the fight, forcing the great Russian fighter to tap. The always-humble Emelianenko accepted the loss in stride and vowed to be back.