Family values: Alexander and Ivan Emelianenko won, and Oleinik was defeated by knockout

The test for Emelianenko and the return of Oleinik

At the end of May, REN TV Fight Club gave the fans a truly unique evening. Something is worth at least the fact that within the framework of one card two Emelianenko brothers had to fight at once. And even though the company of Alexander was not the eldest - Fyodor, it was no less interesting to look at the younger - Ivan in action. After all, despite his solid experience in amateur martial arts, he made his debut in professional MMA at the age of 35 and immediately received the famous judoka Alexei Ledenev, who last year tried his hand at pop MMA and won three victories with one defeat.

But the confrontation between Alexander Emelianenko and another pop MMA star Evgeny Ershov remained in jeopardy until the last. Phoenix did not look his best both at the press conference and at the open training session, but still received admission from the commission of doctors. Therefore, Ershov, who turned out to be 20 kg lighter than his opponent at the weigh-in ceremony, even promised not to work at full strength if he entered the ring not in perfect condition.

Finally, the audience was waiting for the battle of two veterans of mixed martial arts Alexei Oleinik and Oli Thompson. The Russian last fight in the UFC was in October 2022 and lost to Ilir Latifi in it. He did not sign a new contract with the organization and decided to end his career. However, the offer from his homeland changed his plans, because he had to come together with another age athlete.

At the same time, it was Boa, despite its age (45 years), that was considered the favorite. Firstly, he had much more experience (77 meetings in MMA against 35 for his opponent), and secondly, he was at a different level and, for example, spent many years in the UFC, while the Briton only fought there twice. However, on the eve of the meeting, he found a way to attract attention: he expressed a desire to get a Russian passport and confessed his love for vodka.

Victory by decision and defeat by deaf knockout

Emelianenko Jr. was the first to enter the ring and immediately gave the fans a bright fight gathered in the stands. At first, it seemed that Ledenev had few chances. Ivan's level of striking technique was visually much higher than that of his opponent. From the first seconds, he rushed forward and began to throw out mighty series. Alexei courageously took them upon himself and responded only with lowkicks.

And a minute before the first break, the confrontation almost ended ahead of schedule, when the debutant had an excellent deuce. With his right straight, he took out his opponent's jaw, and with his left side, he sent him to the canvas. There was an impression that the judoka would not be able to get to his feet, but he showed courage, and the judge lifted the athletes from the stalls, not allowing Ivan to finish off the defeated opponent.

Despite the damage received in subsequent segments, Ledenev looked no worse than his opponent. He went forward more and more actively and threw out albeit inept, but dangerous shots. As a result, several large hematomas formed on the face of Emelianenko Jr. He also did not forget about the lowkicks and beat off Ivan's front leg.

The opponent did not know what to do, and he did not have enough strength for all nine minutes. He continued to mechanically throw out the branded series: the right one - on the body, the left - on the head, but the opponent got used to it and calmly left the race.

When the final gong sounded, both fighters triumphantly raised their hands up, and it was really unclear who would be stronger. However, the judges unexpectedly and unanimously took Ivan's side. Probably, the episode with a knockdown in the first segment was decisive. To the credit of the triumphant, he accepted the verdict calmly and first of all thanked his opponent.

"For me, I missed today normally. Perhaps only in the morning I will understand how much exactly. In general, everything is not bad. Thank you very much Alexei for the competitive fight. I would also like to say thank you to my manager, coach, as well as brothers Fedor and Alexander for supporting me and helping me with the organization," said Ivan.

But the confrontation between Oleinik and Thompson did not last long and ended, unfortunately, with the defeat of the Russian. Without the opportunity to go into the fight, Alexei was clearly uncomfortable, although he immediately seized the initiative and rushed forward, throwing sweeping blows. However, the lighter and younger Briton calmly walked away from them and responded with his own, adding lowkicks.

I remember only a dangerous series of sideways, when the Russian could get very cool, but did not have time. Finally, closer to the break, he found himself in his native element: he pressed his opponent to the net and tried to impose a standing fight.

However, when nothing foreshadowed trouble, she came. 30 seconds before the end of the opening round, the guest threw a perfect right overhand exactly into the jaw of the Boa constrictor and knocked him out. The veteran literally collapsed on the flooring with no chance of continuing the meeting.

Thompson himself was shocked by what happened and did not immediately believe in success. And after recovering a little, he sat on his knees and, folding his hands in supplication, asked for forgiveness from his opponent and the audience. Immediately, having received the belt from the hands of the legendary Konstantin Tszyu, he once again supported his opponent and answered the question about the rematch.

"Thank you, Moscow! Today is my time. We will talk about the rematch tomorrow, but for now I want to enjoy the moment. Alexei is a real legend, I respect him," said Oli.

Uncounted knockdown and perfect submission

It seemed that a similar fate awaited another veteran - Alexander Emelianenko. He entered the ring with a delay and a heavy gait. It became obvious that in a few days it was not possible to significantly improve his condition. Even before the fight with Svyatoslav Kovalenko, Phoenix looked fresher.

Strongly contrasted with him was Ershov, who literally flew, burning with impatience. And from the first moments of the confrontation, he began to shower the age opponent with blows. Let them not carry knockout power, but they achieved the goal. Moreover, the opponent, acting as if in slow motion, did not have time to overlap, not to mention his own attacks. The blogger easily ran away from him along the canvas.

The critical moment for Alexander came in the second minute of the opening period, when, having missed the jab, he clumsily backed back and began to lose his balance at the net. The opponent took advantage of this and rushed to finish off, but for some reason the referee stopped the fight, allowing the veteran to recover, and did not even count the knockdown. Then the fight continued according to a similar scenario with minimal chances of Emelianenko Sr. to win. Moreover, Ershov, as promised in the interview, openly felt sorry for him and hit him more on the body.

However, apparently Eugene overly believed in his success, which played a cruel joke on him. At the start of the second round, for some reason, he scored a takedown and transferred the fight to the ground. Then he actually made a gift to the enemy, putting his right hand at his complete disposal and allowing him to make a shoulder knot. After that, the blogger had no choice but to give up.

So Emelianenko won a victory that he himself did not expect. On emotions, he even promised to once again take up his head and return to training.

"I hope I disappointed those people who didn't believe in me. Now they will definitely treat me differently. Then I will prepare and get in shape. I'm not going to misbehave anymore. He promised his wife. Tomorrow I'm going to recover in distant cities, for training camps. I will return as soon as I receive an offer," said Alexander.

Immediately, Vladimir Khryunov, who is responsible for organizing meetings at the REN TV Fight Club, invited him to get together with Thompson in August and try to avenge Oleinik, to which Phoenix agreed. In turn, Alexander expressed a desire to give revenge to Ershov according to the rules of boxing, but with gloves for MMA.