Fedor Emelianenko's 10 Fastest Career MMA Victories (With Video)

Already solidified in stone as the greatest heavyweight fighter of the modern era, Fedor Emelianenko will attempt to rise to the top of the world rankings once again as he faces Antonio “Big Foot” Silva this Saturday night the first round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament.

“The Last Emperor” possesses an unbelievable 31-2 record with the first loss coming in extremely controversial fashion back in 2000 when he was struck by an illegal elbow that cut him open and did not allow him to continue in the fight.

But the former pound-for-pound king’s most recent fight didn’t go his way, either, as he was, for the first time in his legendary career, submitted in the middle of the cage by Fabricio Werdum. The loss marked the end of the greatest run in mixed martial arts history as his nine-year undefeated streak came to a conclusion.

The former PRIDE heavyweight champion would not defeated mentally, however, as his calm and cool composure remained even immediately after the fight.

“The one who doesn't fall, never stands up,” Fedor said. “It happened that people made me an idol. But everybody loses. I'm just a human being. And if it's God's will, next fight, I'll win.”

Still, it was shocking to see the most dominant heavyweight in the history of the sport tapping out. We’ve become preconditioned to seeing him completely destroy his opponents—often in practically no time at all. In his 33-fight MMA career, Fedor has only gone the distance seven times and hadn’t been out of the second round in over four years prior to his loss to Werdum.

In fact, 10 of Fedor’s career victories have come in under two minutes with spectacular knockouts and submissions. For nostalgia purposes and to remember the dominance that is Fedor Emelianenko, let’s take a trip down memory lane as we watch his ten fastest career victories.

The first fight on our countdown came on New Year’s Eve, 2007, when Fedor Emelianenko faced the 7’2”, 350-plus pound giant known as Hong Man Choi.

The South Korean kick boxer had compiled a K-1 career kickboxing record of 9-2 and an MMA record of 1-0 before he was scheduled to face the world’s top-ranked heavyweight. Choi won his first MMA fight on New Year’s Eve 2006 when he overwhelmed Nigerian fighter Bobby Ologun with punches in just 16-seconds.

The challenge would be much greater as he stepped into the ring with Emelianenko.

The fight started off with Fedor attempting to take Choi down, but the seven-footer avoided being taken to his back and instead used his weight to land on top of his much smaller opponent.

Of course, once he was on the ground, the fight significantly favored the much more experienced Emelianenko who squirmed free of Choi’s grasp and attempted an arm bar. Somehow, the giant was able to escape before he landed a few punches as the men got to their feet.

Fedor again went for a takedown but was again landed on by the much larger Choi who then delivered a series of punches to the face. Choi attempted to ground-and-pound but was unsuccessful as Fedor saw an opening, snatched his arm and applied a vicious arm bar that forced the tap-out at 1:54 in the first round.

Fresh off his victory over Mihail Apostolov just 14 days prior, Fedor faced Kerry Schall at Rings: World Title Series 1 in April 2001.

The much larger Schall had built a reputation for finishing fights early and attempted to do the same against Emelianenko. Schall rushed Fedor early in the fight, attempting to catch him off guard but ended up getting stuck with a few punches for his efforts.

The wild punch attempts eventually ended with Fedor clinching and tossing Schall to the ground where he quickly grabbed hold of an arm and went for an arm bar. “Meat Truck” was able to escape and the fight was eventually stood back up. 

Schall then went for a body kick but got caught and was swiftly taken to the ground by the future world champion. After some near submissions by both men, Fedor eventually grabbed Schall’s arm again and slapped on his patented arm bar to get the win.

One of the most infamous fights in not only Fedor’s career, but perhaps the entire history of MMA happened at PRIDE Critical Countdown 2004 when Emelianenko faced former two-time Division I NCAA wrestling champion, Kevin Randleman.

Randleman was coming off the biggest win of his career when he knocked out heavyweight contender Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic less than two months prior at PRIDE Total Elimination 2004.

Just seconds into the fight, Randleman shot in on Fedor and lifted him off the canvas before slamming him onto the ground. Fedor scrambled back to his feet, eventually allowing Randleman to take his back on the feet.

It was at this moment that Randleman delivered a highlight-reel German suplex that dropped Fedor directly on his head in violent fashion. The crowd erupted as Randleman looked like he may be the man to finally end Fedor’s run, but it wasn’t to be.

The resilient Emelianenko stayed calm, eventually flipping Randleman onto his back where he gained side control. Randleman held on to Fedor’s body but that didn’t stop Fedor from smashing the side of his head with punches. When Randleman released his grip to protect his head, Fedor did what he does best and applied an excellent submission, this time a kimura that finished the fight. 

Randleman lasted a spectacular 1:33 but was unable to survive.

Veteran fighter Gary Goodridge was best known for his UFC debut when the Trinidad and Tobagoan-born Canadian delivered one of the most vicious knockouts in MMA history to Paul Herrera at UFC 8.

The 13-second knockout is on practically every “ultimate knockouts” reel and many fans will remember seeing Goodridge catch Herrera in a crucifix-like position while delivering numerous undefended elbows to the side of his head before the referee finally stopped the carnage.

On this night, though, Goodridge himself would be stopped early by one of the world’s best fighters. 

Fedor stood right up with Goodridge from the opening bell, catching him with an overhand right that rocked the big man and forced him to cover up. It wasn’t long after that when Fedor took the fight to the ground where he knew he’d have a significant advantage.

Goodridge held on for dear life but Fedor eventually broke free and began smashing his opponent’s face with a series of punches, hammerfists, and soccer kicks before the referee finally put an end to the fight, declaring Emelianenko the victor by TKO at 1:09.

Just months after losing the first fight of his career due to an illegal elbow, Fedor Emelianenko stepped into the ring again at Rings Russia: Russia vs. Bulgaria in Apr. 2001.

On this night, Fedor fought a man by the name of Mihail Apostolov who was making his professional mixed martial arts debut. It would also be his last.

Early in the fight, Fedor took Apostolov to the ground where the inexperienced fighter proceeded to give up his back and cover up to avoid punches. Fedor took this opportunity to deliver a series of heavy punches to the kidneys and back before positioning himself and applying a rear naked choke that ended the fight.

Fedor stole this poor man’s soul.

Professional wrestler Yuji Nagata had only one professional mixed martial arts fight prior to stepping into the cage with Fedor. That fight was a 21-second loss to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic on New Year’s Eve 2001.

Two years later, he would face an even tougher task against the best heavyweight fighter in the world.

Nagata’s nerves were on display as he was too telegraphed with his motions which helped to give Fedor an even bigger advantage than he already had. Fedor picked apart the over-matched Nagata on the feet, countering practically every punch he threw with a solid shot of his own.

When Nagata threw a body kick, Fedor caught the leg and tossed his opponent to the ground. He allowed Nagata back to his feet but immediately kept up the pressure, overwhelming him with a series of kicks before landing a big left hand that sent Nagata to the ground where he turtled up.

From there, Fedor landed a couple solid soccer kicks to the body and a hammer fist to the face before the referee mercifully stopped the fight at 1:02. 

Much like the last man on this list, Mihail Apostolov, this would be Nagata’s last MMA fight.

This fight is largely famous because Fedor’s opponent, Naoya Ogawa, did not touch gloves with him before the fight. While touching gloves is not a requirement, it is seen as a sign of disrespect to refuse.

Fedor is one of, if not the most respectful fighter on the planet, so when Ogawa did not touch gloves, the fans erupted with anticipation. The champion did not disappoint.

With a flurry of punches, Fedor overwhelmed Ogawa before throwing him to the ground and taking mount. From there, he delivered numerous punches to the head as Ogawa held on for dear life. When Ogawa let go, Fedor wasted no time, grabbing an arm and—once again—applying his famous arm bar.

In a show of ultimate class, Fedor checked on Ogawa after the fight, even after being disrespected just a minute prior.

While Fedor had fought “giants” before in his career, former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia brought something that none of the others before him had—talent.

Tim Sylvia left the UFC after losing an interim title fight to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81. Though Sylvia looked solid in the fight that won “Fight of the Night” honors, the loss seemed to really discourage him. He asked for his release shortly after the event citing a desire to fight more often than the UFC would allow and his desire to fight the world’s consensus top heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko.

Sylvia would get his wish in July 2008 when he faced Emelianenko in the main event of the inaugural Affliction Clothing event, Affliction: Banned, for the newly created WAMMA Heavyweight championship. 

Big Tim looked confident early as he looked to work his jab and keep his distance but Fedor exploded with a flurry of punches just 12 seconds into the fight that sent Sylvia to the ground. Still intelligently defending himself, Tim covered up as Fedor continued with the ridiculous onslaught of punches before taking the big man’s back.

At that point, it was already over as Fedor utilized his years of experience on the ground to quickly apply a rear naked choke, submitting the former UFC champion just 36 seconds into the fight.

An astonished Sylvia could only shake his head as the ring flooded with Fedor supporters.

One of the “freak show” fights that Fedor was involved in was against the undefeated Brazilian fighter Wagner da Conceicao Martins, better known as Zulu.

Zulu had won every MMA fight in his career prior to this fight, all by knockout, and looked to do the same against the world’s top heavyweight.

At 6’7” and nearly 400-pounds, Fedor was massively out-sized by the giant Zulu but that didn’t stop him from standing firm and knocking the big man out just 26 seconds into their fight.

Just seconds after the fight started, Fedor delivered a left hook to the jaw that seemed to send the big man to his back in slow motion.

Sensing that his prey was stunned, Fedor quickly followed up with hammer fists and soccer kicks as Zulu scrambled back to his feet. When he got there, though, Fedor smashed him with another big punch, this time a right hand that sent him crashing to the ground yet again.

The fight was stopped shortly after that as Emelianenko forced his giant opponent to tap out while pummeling his face with hammerfists.

The Zulu hype was officially over.

We’ve seen that Fedor Emelianenko has a long history of quick victories in his MMA career but now we’re finally to the fastest victory he has ever had.

The fight was just Fedor’s third professional MMA bout and it took place in Sept. 2000 at Rings: Battle Genesis Vol. 6. The victim was Hiroya Takada, a Japanese fighter who was making his mixed martial arts debut.

It hasn’t been often through the course of Emelianenko’s career that he has been the larger man in the fight, but this was one of those few exceptions—and it was also a good example of why it seems pointless to put him against smaller fighters.

Just a couple seconds into the fight, Takada tried to throw one punch but was immediately met with a series of three or four punches that sent him falling into the ropes and to the canvas. The referee immediately stopped the fight, declaring Fedor the victor by TKO at just 12 seconds.

Takada tried to get to his feet right after but was so out of it that he had lay down on his back as the doctors examined him.

At this time, we had no idea that Fedor would eventually become the most well-rounded and dominant heavyweight the sport has ever seen—but it was sure evident by this short fight that he possessed the kind of knockout power that could put any fighter in the world on his back.

Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva Results, News And More