- Fedor Emelianenko’s youngest brother Ivan won via decision in his MMA debut
- Alexander Emelianenko also fought in the same event and secured a controversial win
A member of the Emelianenko family made waves this weekend as Ivan, younger brother of MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko pulled off a sensational win in his MMA debut. The 35-year-old put on a dominant performance against former Russian judo champion Alexei Ledenev to secure a unanimous decision victory in their special rules bout at a REN TV Fight Club event that took place at the Dynamo Volleyball Arena in Moscow, Russia on Friday.
What a debut
Fans raved about Ivan’s MMA skills as he starred in all of the highlights of the bout. Ivan turned out to be the better fighter right off the bat and he even scored a knockdown after unloading a vicious left hook that stunned and floored Ledenev.
Watch the fight highlights below:
Ivan Emelianenko def. Alexei Ledenev by unanimous decision. Successful MMA debut for the mysterious third Emelianenko brother. pic.twitter.com/6vimXNRsWw
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 26, 2023
Ivan could have been one of the GOATs pic.twitter.com/dLUdTzaaW0
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) May 26, 2023
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
Ivan is now 1-0 as a pro MMA fighter.
Another Emelianenko secured a win
In the same event, Fedor’s another younger brother and Pride veteran Alexander Emelianenko also generated buzz after scoring what appears to be a suspicious submission victory.
Alexander faced Russian vlogger Evgeny Ershov in an MMA match and looked like he already lost via TKO late in the opening round. After seeing Alexander cover himself helplessly as Ershov kept hitting with strikes, the referee in charge stopped the fight but for some reason, decided to continue.
Alexander was then taken down but somehow managed to submit his opponent, who seemingly didn’t attempt to stop the submission move.
Alexander was declared winner via submission but fans suspect the fight was fixed.
