The main event of the Arena FC tournament will be between the organization’s owner, Sergey Erkaev, and the infamous fighter Alexander Emelianenko. The heavyweight bout will take place at the CSKA Arena in Moscow. Originally planned to fight Alfredo Auditore of the Hype FC promotion, Erkaev, who has experience in hand-to-hand combat, will be debuting in the pop MMA system in this fight against Emelianenko. He lost his last fight this past September against Viacheslav Datsik in a boxing rules engagement. The 41-year-old Emelianenko would relish a return to his natural habitat of mixed martial arts.
pop MMA: Arena Heavyweight
Location: Moscow CSKA Arena
Date: 06-11-2022: 01:00
Where to watch: YouTube
Alexander Emelianenko
Russian-born Emelianenko is a decorated Sambo fighter winning the national championship and represented Russia on the international stage. The brother of MMA great, Fedor Emelianenko, Alexander is also a mixed martial artist fighting mostly in Pride, M-1 challenge and other regional European promotions. While engaged in MMA, ‘The Grim Reaper’ made his professional boxing debut against Khizir Pliev, an army boxing champion. The bout ended in a draw. His second boxing match resulted in TKO winning against Mikhail Koklyae in 2019 at the VTB Arena in Moscow. In his last boxing bout two months ago, Emelianenko was knocked out in 13 seconds by Datsik.
Alexander Emelianenko, Tale of the Tape
- Age: 41
- Height: 6’ 4”
- Total fights: 38
- Record: 28-9-1
Sergei Erkaev
The boss of Arena will get into the ring for the first time to fight one of Russia's most popular MMA fighters. Erkaev started training in Taekwondo as a teen and won a black belt for children. At some point, he had a stellar amateur career winning the Russian Cup for youths. In the army, he was active in hand-to-hand combat. Despite his success in the amateur ranks, he preferred to focus on the business side of fighting. He started his Erkaev Martial Arts club which he grew into one of the best pop MMA Leagues promotions now called Arena. The boss will debut on the big stage in Moscow giants Emelianenko.
I want to focus on moving, throwing up, trying hard on the body, and then transferring it to the head. If I understand that I can fight, then I will show all the beauty that I can do.
Sergey Erkaev, Tale of the Tape
- Age: 30
- Height: N/A
- Total fights: 0
- Record: 0
Betting Odds
The boss of Arena is the underdog in this bout, with 1Xbet pricing him to win at 2.562 odds.
