Sherdog’s Top 10: One-Round Fights

Fedor Emelianenko had an amazing mental game. | Photo: Taro Irei/Sherdog.com

8. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Kazuyuki Fujita
Pride 26 “Bad to the Bone”
June 8, 2003

Professional wrestler Fujita was a mainstay of Pride, K-1 and the annual New Year’s shows in Japan for many years. In that period, the iron-jawed Fujita scrapped with many of that generation’s best fighters, including Mirko Filipovic (twice), Wanderlei Silva and Ken Shamrock, but none of those matchups were as compelling as his four-minute war with the legendary Emelianenko. The Russian had captured Pride’s heavyweight title against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira three months earlier, and this would be his first test, if not a formal title defense.

The bout included long stretches of circling and pawing at range interspersed with crazy bursts of violence. The key moment came a little over two minutes into the fight, when Emelianenko got careless and leaned too far forward in an exchange. Fujita blasted him behind the ear with a right hand and put Emelianenko on rubbery legs, and the Russian’s attempt to steady himself in the clinch led to a powerful body-lock takedown for Fujita.

Emelianenko managed to scramble out of another slam attempt but was still wobbly when he worked back to his feet. Four minutes into the fight, however, he was back. Emelianenko cracked Fujita with a right hand, then a body kick and finally a left hook-straight right combination that flattened the Japanese fighter. The Russian took the back and choked his wounded opponent into submission, and his winning streak was safe.

Number 7 » Emelianenko vs. Fujita