Aleksander Emelianenko, younger brother of pound-for-pound great Fedor Emelianenko, has called it a career.
The thirty-one-year-old Russian mixed martial artist announced his retirement via his Facebook page, stating injuries sustained over a competitive fight career were the determining factor with regards to his retirement.
Emelianenko went 21-6 during his MMA career and was one of Pride FC’s scarier heavyweights. Winning three in a row in Pride FC, he lost to Josh Barnett in the opening round of the Openweight Grand Prix. Emelinaneko faced off with some of the best fighters in the world, including Barnett, Fabricio Werdum, and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, during his career.
At one point of his career, it was said he would fight with the UFC. Due to medical concerns, which were never actually made public, he never got that opportunity. Many media outlets stated the reason was a positive hepatitis-c test, although that was never 100-percent confirmed by the fighter.
In recent years, Aleksander was unable to find a permanent home and fought wherever the paycheck was. In what was his final fight, he was submitted by Jeff Monson, who was earlier defeated by his older brother Fedor in his last fight. Quite fitting, the Emelianenko brothers finished out their careers with the same opponent, granted with a differing end result.