Fearing the Reaper: The Rise of Aleksander Emelianenko

As a MMA competitor, Aleksander Emelianenko is both blessed and cursed. On the one hand his primary training partner is Fedor Emelianenko (the best fighter on the planet), on the other, Aleksander is Fedor’s younger brother and, therefore, will always find himself obscured by Fedor’s Atlas-like shadow.

Doomed to always be compared to and eclipsed by Fedor, it has been somewhat difficult for Aleksander to make a name for himself in the fiercely competitive world of MMA.

Hampered by a lack of focus and ongoing legal troubles, which have made it nearly impossible for him to fight in promotions outside of Europe and Japan, Aleksander has yet to reach his true potential as a fighter.

Possessed with wondrous hand speed and tremendous striking skills, Aleksander has all the tools to become a dominating force (perhaps even a champion) in whatever organization happens to sign him. Yet, for some reason, Aleksander has been unable to break into the ranks of the world’s perennial top ten heavyweights, perhaps because the majority of his opponents have not been among the greatest that MMA has to offer.

A two-time world Sambo champion, Aleksander shares many of the same characteristics that made his brother, Fedor, such an unparalleled success, among them, incredible speed, precision punching power, and outstanding grappling prowess.

Still, it should not be assumed that just because Aleksander routinely trains with Fedor that their fighting styles are at all similar. Whereas Fedor is known as a submission specialist, who often beats his opponents into a state of total insensibility while on the ground, Aleksander is a prototypical brawler and enjoys trading punches whenever possible.

With his relaxed hand-down stance and Ali-like footwork, Aleksander is one of MMA’s most unusual strikers. His apparent indifference to his adversary’s strengths is only overshadowed by his obvious belief in his own. Rarely engaging in ground-and-pound wars of attrition, Aleksander prefers to a unleash a rapid serious of strikes against his opponents which, more often than not, leave them sprawled unconscious on the canvas.

Yet, what separates Aleksander from garden variety knockout artists is the fact that he is continuously able to land overwhelmingly powerful strikes with pinpoint precision. (For an excellent example of this, see Aleksander’s fifteen second destruction of Brazilian “mutant” Ricardo Morais). 

However, Aleksander’s preference for pugilistic skirmishes is not always a good thing. Unlike his brother, Aleksander can be knocked out, as Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic proved in 2004, when Aleksander (in his fourth professional fight) fell victim to the Croatian’s dreaded left high kick. Undaunted by his loss to Cro Cop (who was demolishing practically everyone in PRIDE, with the exception of Fedor, in 2004), Aleksander would go on to win his next five fights in a row before losing to Josh “The Baby Faced Assassin” Barnett via submission.

While Aleksander’s five sequential victories were against physical freak shows (Morais) and Neanderthal-like football hooligans (James Thompson) and other MMA disappointments, he managed to prove to all concerned that he deserved to be counted among MMA’s future luminaries.

Even in his match against a far more experienced Josh Barnett, Aleksander was able to land a number of well placed punches that rocked the former UFC champion, forcing him to take Aleksander to the mat in order to earn a victory.

Shortly after a tough, but not entirely unexpected, loss to Barnett, Aleksander found himself squaring off against Russia’s other rising star, Sergei Kharitonov, a fighter who also possessed fearsome striking skills. In what would prove to be the best performance of his career, Aleksander managed to weather a torrential storm of punches from Kharitonov and secure a TKO victory after landing a barrage of punches and knees while on the ground.

With his first defeat of a truly worthy opponent, Aleksander saw his stock in the MMA world rise quickly. His next fight, against Brazilian juggernaut Fabricio Werdum, was a must-win scenario for Aleksander if he wanted to continue climbing the ladder of success. However, the Aleksander who did battle with Werdum was not the same Aleksander who destroyed Kharitonov.

Looking uncharacteristically sluggish, Aleksander was pummeled on ground before succumbing to an arm triangle from the much more aggressive Werdum.

While Aleksander rebounded from his lost to Werdum, winning his next four fights in a row, his victories are somewhat hollow, in as much as Aleksander is fighting opponents that have not even attained journeyman status.

With the exception of Dan Bobish, an experienced but unexceptional fighter, Aleksander’s last four MMA outings have been more like sparring matches than actual fights. This failure to fight top level competition is causing Aleksander not to be taken seriously by MMA insiders, many of whom view him as being a byproduct of his brother‘s success.

However, such comparisons, while a matter of course, are not entirely fair to Aleksander, whose possess all the tools of a future champion, but none of the means to use them against worthy adversaries.

Aleksander’s much anticipated bout with Paul “The Headhunter” Buentello, at Affliction’s inaugural event, would not only have given the Russian an excellent opportunity to display his monstrous punching power in America for the first time, but also exposed him to an audience that is thirsting to watch MMA’s best from overseas.

A victory over a well respected combatant like Buentello would have undoubtedly led to future fights with top ranked opponents. Yet, in an unfortunate turn of events, Aleksander was not allowed to fight Buentello because he failed to meet CSAC licensing requirements.

Less than 24 hours before the fight, Aleksander was taken off of Affliction’s preliminary card and replaced by the ubiquitous Gary Goodridge, who subsequently lost via decision to “The Headhunter.” While the specific reason why the CSAC would not allow Aleksander to fight is unknown, many MMA analysts have speculated that Aleksander’s criminal record (he was convicted of robbery and spent three years in prison) kept him from competing in America.

Still, gaining acceptance in America’s fickle MMA community is the least of Aleksander’s worries; his record of 13-3 virtually assures that he will eventually find himself pitted against someone in the US, once his legal troubles are cleared up.

Rather, Aleksander’s biggest concern should be escaping his brother’s professional shadow; a shadow which has grown to such immense proportions (especially after Fedor’s annihilation of Tim Sylvia) that it now engulfs the entire MMA world.

As long as he remains in the same promotions in which his brother is the reigning heavyweight champion (formerly PRIDE, currently Affliction), Aleksander will never be able to truly become the multifaceted fighter he is capable of being.

Even if Aleksander were to dominate his future competition and earn a shot at the WAMMA heavyweight title, it is extremely unlikely that the Emelianenko brothers would ever fight each other.

While such a pairing would make for the MMA match of the century, Aleksander has a long way to go before he is ready for a title shot against any major champion, much less his brother.

With Affliction on unsteady ground, financially, and with Fedor as the beleaguered promotion’s champion, it would be wise for Aleksander to consider signing with another organization; one which would allow him to test himself against quality opponents.

Immediately out of the running are promotions like Elite XC, Strikeforce, and Cage Rage. Such organizations, while well established in the MMA world, simply do not have any fighters who would be capable of lasting more than a few minutes with Aleksander Emelianenko (and that includes media darling Kimbo Slice).

A match between Aleksander and pituitary anomaly Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva might make for an interesting fight, at least for a minute or so. The UFC might have been a good fit for the Russian, but due to Dana White’s brash antics and thoroughly unprofessional behavior during contract negotiations, neither Aleksander nor Fedor were able come to terms with America’s largest MMA promotion.

Rather, an excellent organization for Aleksander to consider signing with, one which is filled with exceptional fighters, would be DREAM. Having replaced PRIDE as the primary breeding ground for new talent in Europe and Japan, DREAM would be the ideal place for Aleksander to sharpen his already impressive skills.

In DREAM, Aleksander would be able to not only avenge one of his loses to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, but also test himself against other outstanding fighters such as Mark Hunt, Sergei Kharitonov and Alistair Overeem.

A further incentive for Aleksander to sign with DREAM is the fact that, at the moment, DREAM does not have a heavyweight champion. While it would not necessarily be easy for Aleksander to become DREAM’s first heavyweight title holder, it is entirely conceivable that he could claim the title when the opportunity presents itself and, thereby, begin a legacy of his own.

One of the most promising fighters in all of MMA, Aleksander Emelianenko has no choice but to seek out worthy opponents if he wants to become a champion anytime in the near future. With striking skills that are rivaled only by Fedor and a solid grappling background, Aleksander only needs a handful of quality victories to see himself rise to the ranks of the world’s top ten heavyweights.

While signing with an American promotion would definitely enhance his profile, Aleksander does not need his career hindered by the infighting and blatant favoritism that takes place in certain US MMA organizations; organizations that promote fighters who are past their prime while disregarding their younger talent.

If Aleksander signs with a promotion that will regard him as an unique individual, rather than Fedor’s younger brother, then he will be free to unleash his striking blitzkrieg on the MMA world once again and, with a little luck, capture the heavyweight championship that has thus far eluded him.