For Alexander Emelianenko, 2022 was a year of missed opportunities. The fighter had a good chance to end his career on a positive note, but after local success, for some reason, he started talking about the possibility of fighting the UFC champion.

Just a few months later, he appeared before the public in a deplorable state, overcame the crisis period, but Phoenix did not succeed in rising from the ashes.

Alexander lost outright to the old enemy, could not cope with the blogger, now he is eager for a battle with actor Nikita Dzhigurda. Continuing to grope for the bottom, Emelianenko did not notice how he turned from a once good fighter into a laughing stock. Isn’t it time to stop?

Next year could be even worse…

Didn’t use the window of opportunity

Russian fighter Alexander Emelianenko by the beginning of 2022 was not going through the best stage in his career. If we talk about professional fights in MMA, then the last three ended without victories, and two with defeats without much chance of success. It was problematic to count on a miraculous transformation, but the 40-year-old fighter still had the opportunity to put a bright end to his professional career and leave on a winning note.

On February 23, 2022, Emelianenko got a chance to take revenge in a fight with Jeff Monson. In 2012, Fedor’s younger brother lost to the Snowman by choke, and 10 years later he could repay the debt in a bare-knuckle fight.

Emelianenko did beat the 52-year-old veteran, though not as easily as one might think. Having sent the Russified American to a knockdown in the first round, Alexander failed to finish the fight with an early victory. In the final round, our fighter did not look very convincing, although the judges still gave preference to him. Here it would be time for a bright fighter in the past to announce the end of his professional career, but Alexander did not use the window of opportunity and hastened to make a promise to fight again in the foreseeable future.

Photo: © M-1 press service

Datsik instead of Ngannou

The local success of Alexander allowed the most incredible rumors to be born about the nearest future fighter. As if he won not the elderly Monson, but Daniel Cormier, Stipe Miocic or brother Fedor at the peak of his career. At least, it was difficult to explain the rumors about a possible fight with UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou otherwise. However, Emelianenko himself did not confirm the fact that such a fight was being prepared, but hinted at its possibility.

– In general, there were such proposals and wishes – to arrange a fight with Ngannou. I saw his fights. This is how he is: in the first minutes, if he doesn’t knock out, then he leads a long battle. To fight is not to fight, – Sport24 quoted the fighter.

However, no Ngannou appeared on the horizon, but instead of a fight with the champion, the prospect of a fight according to the rules of boxing with Vyacheslav Datsik loomed. The replacement could not be called complete, if we talk about the level of the opponent. But since the conflict between Emelianenko and Ginger Tarzan had a long history, in terms of media this confrontation was not much inferior to the hypothetical duel between Alexander and the Cameroonian champion.

In mixed martial arts, Emelianenko has obviously been more successful than Datsik. But the opponents had to fight in the ring, which somewhat reduced Alexander’s chances of winning. However, it was not the rules of the fight that deprived the younger brother of Fedor of the status of the favorite, but his condition. Just a couple of weeks after the announcement, the fighter appeared in public in an extremely unsightly appearance, barely moved, and spoke with difficulty.

Alexander Emelianenko / Photo: © Vadim Tikhomirov / Match TV

MMA fans were seriously frightened for the state of Alexander, called for the fight against Datsik to be canceled, fearing that Emelianenko simply would not survive under the blows of Red Tarzan. Among those who were worried was even Alexander Shlemenko, who bitterly stated that in a few months we would not see Alexander again.

Phoenix didn’t take off

After a few months, fans still saw Emelianenko, moreover, in the ring. Alexander seems to have taken up his mind, went to Yekaterinburg to improve his health, and began to actively train. To prove to the fans that he is really serious, he even took a new nickname for himself – Phoenix. But it was not possible to be reborn from the ashes – the mythical bird never took off …

The fight with Vyacheslav Datsik showed that little was left of the former Alexander. Red Tarzan knocked out Emelianenko in just 13 seconds! There was no reaction, no speed in the once formidable heavyweight. In the ring, Phoenix looked about as stupid as Mikhail Koklyaev a few years before in a fight against himself. After such a failure, it was definitely time to end, albeit not on a positive note.

Emelianenko asked for a rematch with Datsik, although there was no point in another attempt. And even got the opportunity to return the debt to the opponent, though in a mini-ring as part of a kind of sparring. Again defeat. MMA fans have simply laughed at Alexander’s attempts to prove that he is still capable of making some noise.

In December, the fighter got another chance to finish a difficult year for him with a victory, since he had to fight with a blogger without serious fighting experience and good technique, who was three dozen kilograms behind Emelianenko in weight. Alexander managed to lose here too, demonstrating to his fans that even the level of pop-MMA he no longer pulls.

Alexander Emelianenko / Photo: © RIA Novosti / Vladimir Astapkovich

But even after that, Emelianenko is not going to retire. There was talk about a possible fight with Nikita Dzhigurda, who, not only in weight and experience, but even in age, has no advantage over Phoenix. The duel of views has already taken place, but I want to believe that it will not come to such a dubious duel. However, if this fight does happen, then no one will be surprised at any outcome. Alexander has already missed all possible chances for an acceptable end to his career.