Aleksander Emelianenko

nationality= flagicon|RUS Russian
birthdate=birth date and age|year=1981|month=08|day=2
died=
fightingfrom= flagicon|RUS Saint Petersburg, Russia
hometown= flagicon|USSR Stary Oskol, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
fightteam= flagicon|RUS Red Devil Sport Clubcite web
url=http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?fighterID=3209
title=Fight Finder: Aleksander Emelianenko
year=2007
accessdate=2007-08-16
publisher=Sherdog]
fightstyle=SAMBO
wins=13
losses=3
draws=0
nocontest=
ko=7
submissions=4|

Aleksander Emelianenko (Russian: Александр Емельяненко) (born August 2, 1981) is a Russian mixed martial arts fighter. He is a two-time Russian national SAMBO champion, and two-time world SAMBO champion in the absolute divisions.

Biography

Aleksander was born in the Russian SFSR in a family of a teacher, Olga Feodorovna Emelianenko, and a welder, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Emelianenko. Aleksander is the third child in the family and has an older sister, Marina, an older brother, Fedor, and a younger brother, Ivan (born 1988). Fedor is the reigning WAMMA heavyweight champion , while Ivan is currently in training.

Aleksander started martial arts training at a very early age: his older brother, Fedor, often had to babysit him, and since Fedor didn't want to miss his Sambo practice, he took young Aleksander with him. At first Aleksander only observed the older kids, but soon he started mimicking their movements and doing pull-ups and push-ups. Aleksander started his formal Sambo training when he joined elementary school, but by that time his peers were already no match for him. Aleksander trained with his childhood Sambo coach, Vladimir Mihailovich Voronov, and his brother Fedor, until June 2006.ref|camp_change

In an interview, his brother Fedor confirmed that Aleksander had spent time in a prison for robbery. Aleksander was sentenced to 5 years but was released after 3.5 years. [fedor_interview]

Personal life

Aleksander married his wife, Marina, on September 4, 2004. The couple resides in Saint Petersburg and has a daughter, Olya, who was born on July 30, 2007. [ [http://www.ultimate-fighter.ca/Forum/viewtopic.php?id=8648 A: I can't complain right now, I'm utterly satisfied with it. I'm a happy father now (the daughter was born 30.07.07)] ] The couple are expecting their second child, a boy.cite web
url=http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles/2/From-Surviving-the-Streets-of-Russia-to-MMA-The-Story-of-Aleksander-Emelianenko-Part-2-13709
title=From Surviving the Streets of Russia to MMA: The Story of Aleksander Emelianenko, Part 2
accessdate=2008-07-20
date=2008-07-17
publisher=Sherdog
last=Kogan
first=Evgeni]

Emelianenko has claimed that he killed a bear by trapping its head with a fork-like staff and stabbing it in the heart with a knife. This is a traditional, but not common, way of Russian bear hunting.

Aleksander's tattoos are a constant source of questions from his fans and journalists. Aleksander explained their meaning in his interview on Fedor’s official website.ref|interview

Tattoos

* Right arm: Cathedral with five domes: symbolizes five years of imprisonment.
* Shoulders: Stars: Symbolize a "career criminal" or Vor v Zakone in Russian (English translation: thief in law).
* Right shoulder: cobweb: Aleksander did not explain its meaning other than saying that contrary to what has been suggested by some, it does not have anything to do with the Mafiya. In Russian prisons, tattoos using this symbol typically denote drug addiction or robbery.
* Left shoulder: Russian script.
* Left forearm: Half cat’s head, half skull: “Homo homini lupus est.” Translated: Man is a wolf to his fellow-man.
* Back: Grim Reaper holding a baby.
* Back: "Gott Mit Uns", meaning “God is with us” in German: for Aleksander, it’s a symbol of revival. This tattoo caused a controversy, since this slogan was written on belt buckles of German soldiers in the Second and Third Reich. For many Russian prisoners the phrase means you are totally opposed to the soviet penal system.Fact|date=July 2008 This phrase was very popular among prisoners during the 60's and 70's, when the Soviet regime was at its worst.Fact|date=July 2008
* Knees: Stars: symbolize that the owner will never be brought to his knees. These tattoos also stirred up controversy, after a picture published on his website revealed a swastika in the middle. [ [http://www.alex.mixfight.ru/multimedia/photos/tattoo/95/ Татуировки] ]
* Pirate tattoo: stands for article 167 of Russian Criminal Code: “armed robbery”.
* “Fortis fortuna adiuvat” Translated: Fortune favors the bold.
* A name on his lower abs (Maybe 'Marina'). Later covered by a tribal tattoo.
* A spider web on scalp.

MMA record

References

* [http://fedor.bel.ru/?id=131 Interview with Fedor Emelianenko on Fedor's official website, December 4, 2006.] Fedor Emelianenko: "We have not been training together for over six months now. (..) Before his last PRIDE fight, Aleksander went to train in Holland. Since Fabricio Werdum is a very knowledgeable, very serious fighter, Aleksander needed a good sparring partner. And in Holland he simply had no one to grapple with."
* [http://fedor.bel.ru/index_eng.shtml?id=35 Interview with Aleksander on Fedor's official website]
* [http://www.sport-express.ru/art.shtml?155946 Fedor intervew.]

External links

* [http://alex.mixfight.ru/ Official website]
* [http://www.m1mixfight.com/fighters/reddevil/weight/over90/alex/ Professional MMA record]
* [http://www.prideofficial.com/free/fighters/details/1090410751.html PRIDE profile]
* [http://www.pridefc.com/pride2005/index.php?mainpage=fighters&fID=60 PRIDE english profile]
* [http://www.mmaru.de/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8 Interview in Amsterdam 01.11.2006]