- Alexander Emelianenko scored a controversial win in his MMA return as fans claim the fight was fixed
- The 41-year-old was coming off a 13-second KO loss in boxing
Pride veteran and brother of MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko, Alexander Emelianenko has been involved in a controversial fight following his submission win over vlogger Evgeny Ershov at the REN TV Superfight Series. Some fans suspect that the fight was fixed due to the shady turn of events leading up to Emelianenko’s victory.
A suspicious win
An aging and seemingly dwindling Emelianenko showed up to make his MMA return at the the Dynamo Volleyball Arena in Moscow, Russia to face the younger Ershov. As expected, Ershov was having his way against Emelianenko, landing a flurry of combinations.
Just before the opening round came to the final minute, Ershov appeared to have finished Emelianenko via TKO as the referee in charge stepped in after seeing the 41-year-old helpless. However, a moment of confusion happened and all of a sudden, the fight went on.
In a wild shift of events, Ershov shot for a takedown which led to Emelianko submitting him via kimura. It could’ve been a nice comeback win for Emelianenko if it wasn’t for the sketchy TKO stoppage followed by a suspicious-looking and evidently uncontested submission.
As a result, some fans claimed the fight was fixed.
So, this just happened in Russia.
A vlogger TKOs Aleksander Emelianenko, the ref steps in and stops the fight. But the vlogger says “Nah, why? Let’s keep it on!”, then shots and takedown and gets submitted?
Couldn’t have been more fixed.
(h/t @pelunaton pic.twitter.com/vZMKtwZkgX
— Al Zullino (@phre) May 26, 2023
🤣🤣🤣🤣 esto tiene que estar amañado pic.twitter.com/n150J3ypZY
— Pelunaton (@pelunaton) May 26, 2023
Not the best way to revive a career
Needless to say, Emelianenko’s latest win wasn’t the best way to revive his seemingly dying combat sports career. It can be recalled that “The Grim Reaper” suffered a humiliating 13-second KO loss to Viacheslav Datsik in a boxing match that took place last year. Prior to that, Emelianenko has gone winless in his last two MMA fights.
It is yet to be known what lies ahead of Emelianenko but what remains clear is that at one point, he had his fair share of MMA fame, having faced some of the biggest names in the sport, including Mirko Cro Crop, Fabricio Werdum, Josh Barnett and Bob Sapp.
As it stands, Emelianenko has a pro MMA record of 28-9-1.
