Fedor Emelianenko

Emelianenko was born in 1976 in the city of Rubizhne, Luhansk in what was then the Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine). In 1978, when he was two, his family moved within the Soviet Union to Stary Oskol, Belgorod of the Russian SFSR. His mother, Olga Fedorovna, was a teacher and his father, Vladimir Alexandrovich Emelianenko, was a welder. Emelianenko is the second child in the family and has an older sister and two younger brothers, including professional mixed martial artist Aleksander Emelianenko. Fedor also trains with his youngest brother Ivan, who has competed in Combat Sambo, and plans to begin a career in MMA in 2010. Emelianenko finished high school in 1991 and graduated with honors from a professional trade school in 1994. From 1995 until 1997, he served in the Russian Army as a military firefighter. In 1999, he married his wife Oksana, and their daughter Masha was born in the same year. They divorced in 2006. On December 29, 2007, his second daughter, Vasilisa, was born to his long time girlfriend Marina. Emelianenko and Marina married in October 2009. In his spare time, he likes to read, listen to music, and draw. He is a practicing Orthodox Christian and a parishioner at the church of St. Nicholas in Stary Oskol. His confessor is Archpriest Andrei Zinoviev. Emelianenko had the honour of being one of 80 Russian sporting champions, cultural icons and national heroes to carry the Olympic torch in St. Petersburg in 2008.

Emelianenko began his mixed martial arts as a member of Russian Top Team (RTT), training with the first generation of Russian RINGS competitors, such as Volk Han and Andrey Kopylov. After winning his Pride Heavyweight title, a rift grew between Emelianenko and the manager of RTT, Vladimir Evgenevich Pogodin. According to Emelianenko, Pogodin, who held the position of vice-president in the World Sambo Federation, attempted to control Emelianenko's career through threats and abuse of his position to deny "Master of Sports" titles to Emelianenko and his brother Aleksander. Emelianenko also alleged he was deceived by Pogodin in financial disputes between Pogodin and Emelianenko. After his bout with Gary Goodridge, the Emelianenko brothers left Russian Top Team and began to train in St. Petersburg with the Red Devil Sport Club, which is managed by Vadim Finkelstein. To date, Finkelstein is still his manager. Emelianenko is also a member of the VOS gym in Holland, where he trains with Johan Vos and Lucien Carbin. Emelianenko has also trained with the likes of Ernesto Hoost, Tyrone Spong, and Denis Lebedev.