The former Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight titleholder will shoulder the Bellator MMA marquee when he confronts Timothy Johnson in the Bellator 269 headliner on Saturday at VTB Arena in Moscow. Emelianenko has rattled off eight wins across his past 10 outings. He last fought at Bellator 237, where he put away Quinton Jackson with punches in the first round of their Dec. 29, 2019 pairing. Johnson, meanwhile, has won three of his past four bouts. The Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran last competed at Bellator 261, where he dropped a unanimous decision to Valentin Moldavsky in a failed bid to capture the interim heavyweight crown on June 25.
As Emelianenko and Johnson approach their intriguing battle in Russia, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
45: Years of age for Emelianenko, who was born on Sept. 28, 1976 in Rubizhne, Ukraine.
15: Emelianenko wins by submission, accounting for 38% of his career total (39). His methods of choice: six armbars, four rear-naked chokes, four kimuras and one guillotine choke. Emelianenko owns 15 other wins by knockout or technical knockout and nine more by decision.
27: First-round finishes on the Emelianenko resume, five of the sub-minute variety. He punched out Hiroya Takada in 12 seconds at a Rings event on Sept. 5, 2000, submitted Naoya Ogawa with an armbar at Pride Final Conflict 2004 on Aug. 15, 2004, struck Wagner da Conceicao Martins into submission in 26 seconds at Pride Shockwave 2005 on Dec. 31, 2005, disposed of Tim Sylvia with a rear-naked choke in 36 seconds at Affliction “Banned” on Jan. 24, 2009 and wiped out Frank Mir with punches in 48 seconds at Bellator 198 on April 28, 2018.
28: Consecutive appearances without a loss for Emelianenko between April 6, 2001 and Nov. 7, 2009. He went 27-0 with one no contest.
143: Combined victories between the six men—Ryan Bader, Matt Mitrione, Dan Henderson, Antonio Silva, Fabricio Werdum and Tsuyoshi Kosaka—who have defeated Emelianenko. They boast a cumulative record of 143-74-4 (.647).
36: Years of age for Johnson, who was born in Lamberton, Minnesota, on March 13, 1985.
8: Johnson victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 53% of his career total (15). His list of victims includes Mitrione, Tyrell Fortune, Shamil Abdurakhimov and Travis Wiuff. Johnson holds three other victories by submission and four more by decision.
34: Seconds needed for Johnson to punch Dean Lamb into submission under the Max Fights banner on March 23, 2013. Having occurred in the Xtreme Couture rep’s fourth professional appearance, it remains his fastest finish to date.
6: Countries in which Johnson has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 11-6 in the United States, 1-0 in Croatia, 1-0 in England, 1-0 in Brazil, 1-0 in France and 0-1 in Ireland.
.773: Cumulative winning percentage between the seven men—Moldavsky, Vitaly Minakov, Cheick Kongo, Junior Albini, Alexander Volkov, Jared Rosholt and Lance Peterson—who have beaten Johnson. They sport a combined record of 136-38-2.