F. Emelianenko (photo) beat Maldonado in a controversial decision. Photo: M1 Global/Disclosure
Fedor Emelianenko He had to survive a very harsh punishment to win, with a controversial decision from the judges, the duel against Fábio Maldonado at Fight Night 50, an event held this Friday (17) in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
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The legendary Russian heavyweight, who entered the cage widely applauded by the fans, he almost suffered a knockout in the first round. Fedor cornered Maldonado against the cage and threw blows, all of which were blocked by his opponent. However, during an attack by the Russian, the Brazilian landed a sharp left cross that made Fedor collapse.
Then, Maldonado went all out to finish the fight, including landing clean strikes. The referee, on the other hand, let the action continue. Even though he was clearly beaten, Fedor managed to survive the punishment in the first round.
In the second round, Fedor again showed more initiative, although most of his strikes ended up in Maldonado's guard. The Brazilian rarely attacked, and when he did, he managed to bother the legendary Russian. The trend was the same in the third and final round, although the pace of the fight was clearly slower.
After 15 minutes of action, with practically all of them standing, both Fedor and Maldonado left the fight with their faces badly bruised. In the judges' decision, better for the home star: victory for Fedor in the majority decision, as one of the referees declared a draw.
Controversial or not, the result gave Fedor his 37th victory in professional MMA, against four defeats and one no-contest. Maldonado suffered his tenth defeat, against 22 victories.
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