Below is a list of Pride Fighting Championships' champions and title defenses:

Pride Champions

World Heavyweight Championship

:''above 93 kg (205 lbs)''

No:	Name:	Date:	Location:	Successful Defenses:
			align=center		Mirko Filipović on August 28, 2005 in Saitama, Saitama>Saitama, Japan (Pride Final Conflict 2005)	Mark Hunt on December 31, 2006 in Saitama, Saitama>Saitama, Japan (Pride Shockwave 2006)

World Middleweight Championship

:''93 kg (205 lbs) and below''

No:	Name:	Date:	Location:	Successful Defenses:
					Kiyoshi Tamura on February 24, 2002 in Saitama, Saitama>Saitama, Japan (Pride 19)	*def. Hiromitsu Kanehara on November 24, 2002 in Tokyo, Japan (Pride 23)	Quinton Jackson on October 31, 2004 in Saitama, Saitama>Saitama, Japan (Pride 28)	Ricardo Arona on December 31, 2005 in Saitama, Saitama>Saitama, Japan (Pride Shockwave 2005)

World Welterweight Championship

:''83 kg (183 lbs) and below''

No:	Name:	Date:	Location:	Successful Defenses:
			align=center

World Lightweight Championship

:''73 kg (161 lbs) and below''

No:	Name:	Date:	Location:	Successful Defenses:
			align=center		*def. Marcus Aurelio on November 5, 2006 in Yokohama, Japan (Pride Bushido 13)

Tournaments

''An asterisk (*) indicates that the tournament was also a title fight.'' {| style="border-collapse: collapse;" border="1" cellpadding="3" |- bgcolor="#CCCCCC" ! Year/Weight Division || Champion || Event |- | 2000 Open-weight || Mark Coleman || Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals |- | 2003 Middleweight || Wanderlei Silva || Pride Final Conflict 2003 |- | 2004 Heavyweight || Fedor Emelianenko || Pride Shockwave 2004* |- | 2005 Middleweight || Mauricio "Shogun" Rua || Pride Final Conflict 2005 |- | 2005 Welterweight || Dan Henderson || Pride Shockwave 2005* |- | 2005 Lightweight || Takanori Gomi || Pride Shockwave 2005* |- | 2006 Open-weight || Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović || Pride Final Conflict Absolute |- | 2006 Welterweight || Kazuo Misaki || Pride Bushido 13 |- |}

See also

List of Strikeforce champions

List of UFC champions

List of WEC champions

List of Pride events

References

External links

PRIDE Title Histories

* Category:Lists of sportspeople

fr:Liste des Champions du Pride FC ru:Список чемпионов PRIDE

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	Kazushi Sakuraba
other names	The Gracie Hunter, The IQ Wrestler
birth date	July 14, 1969
birth place	Katagami, Akita, Japan
nationality	Japanese
height
weight kg	83
weight class	Welterweight Middleweight Light Heavyweight
style	Catch Wrestling, Freestyle, Shootfighting
stance	Southpaw
team	Laughter7
years active	1997 - present (MMA)
mma win	26
mma kowin	4
mma subwin	19
mma decwin	3
mma loss	15
mma koloss	9
mma subloss	2
mma decloss	4
mma draw	1
mma nc	2
sherdog	84
updated	May 18, 2010 }}

is a Japanese professional mixed martial artist and former professional wrestler. He has competed in pro-wrestling for New Japan Pro Wrestling, UWFi and Kingdom Pro Wrestling. He has fought in MMA competition in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1 Hero's and DREAM. He is known as the "Gracie Hunter" due to his wins over four members of the famed Gracie family including Royler Gracie, Renzo Gracie, Ryan Gracie, and Royce Gracie. In particular, Sakuraba is famous for his initial fight with Royce Gracie which lasted ninety minutes. His other notable victoies include wins over Ken Shamrock, Minowaman, Kevin Randleman, Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Vitor Belfort and Carlos Newton.

Early years

Sakuraba began his career as a wrestler at the age of 15. A high school stand-out, he finished as high as 2nd in the nation before joining the wrestling squad of Chuo University, a team which had counted Olympic gold medalists Shozo Sasahara and Osamu Watanabe amongst its ranks. He won the East Japan Freshman championship in his first year and served as their team captain thereafter. In his senior year, he finished fourth place in the All-Japan tournament. Amongst his notable wins was a defeat of future Olympic bronze medalist Kat Ota.

Professional wrestling

Upon graduating from the university, Sakuraba had initially thought to remain with Chuo University as a coach. However, at the last minute he decided to pursue a career as a professional wrestler. According to Sakuraba, the impetus for this stemmed from a childhood dream of one day emulating Tiger Mask, a famous Japanese cartoon hero and real-life professional wrestler.

UWFi years

After considering the mixed martial arts organization Pancrase, he ultimately chose the UWFi, a professional wrestling league that was nonetheless known for its highly technical and realistic-looking bouts. His time in the UWFI would prove to be a formative experience for Sakuraba; it was there under the tutelage of Billy Robinson that he received his initial instruction in catch wrestling. It is catch wrestling that would serve as the base of the unorthodox ground-game that would later lead him to success in the Pride Fighting Championships.

In spite of his amateur pedigree, Sakuraba was forced to work his way up from the bottom of the UWFi's rung. Sakuraba lost his debut in 1993 to Steve Nelson and went winless through his rookie year with the league. It is also popularly alleged that under the eye of Kiyoshi Tamura, he was made to perform menial chores about the dojo. Still undeterred, Sakuraba steadily built a working knowledge of submission holds upon his freestyle wrestling base until his efforts were at last rewarded with a win over Mark Silver in October 1994.

Though his record remained below .500, Sakuraba continued to edge his way closer to mid-card status through the rest of the year. Then, in 1995, the UWFi began an interpromotional feud with New Japan Pro Wrestling. The vast majority of UWFi workers came out on the losing end of the booking to the larger and more mainstream promotion and Sakuraba was no exception. He was defeated in high-profile bouts to Tokimitsu Ishizawa, Koji Kanemoto and Shinjiro Otani, bringing Sakuraba a new level of exposure to the public. The ring psychology and technical prowess he displayed in the bouts also impressed the management of the UWFi enough that he was finally pushed towards main event status.

New Japan's dominance in the feud injured the marketability of the UWFi promotion, which had pressed the perception that their athletes boasted legitimate skill in catch wrestling and kickboxing. In a bid to regain credibility, Yoji Anjoh travelled to California to challenge Rickson Gracie in the latter's own dojo, only to be swiftly and brutally defeated before the assembled Japanese press that had followed him there. With the UWFi's formerly fearsome reputation in tatters, its attendance numbers swiftly decreased, with the federation closing its doors once and for all in December 1996. In their final show it was Sakuraba who at long last headlined, defeating Yoji Anjoh by submission.

Kingdom Pro Wrestling

Following the close of the UWFi, Nobuhiko Takada, the most popular of the UWFi workers amongst the mainstream public founded Kingdom Pro Wrestling, taking in Sakuraba and the majority of his fellow UWFi alumni. In the vein of its predecessor, Kingdom was primarily a league devoted to realistic-looking works. Having by now established his ability, Sakuraba was this time booked as a main-eventer from the outset. However, unlike the UWFi, Kingdom struggled from the beginning to draw substantial crowds. Mixed martial arts was growing in popularity, and the dominance of the Gracie family and their fellow Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners over the field and more specifically over professional wrestlers, left the Japanese public ever more unconvinced as to the fighting ability of Kingdom's stable of athletes.

Mixed martial arts

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In an attempt to gain attention for the embattled Kingdom Pro Wrestling league, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Yoji Anjoh signed on to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship's Ultimate Japan tournament. Kanehara was injured in his training for the tournament, and Sakuraba wound up as his late-hour substitute. The tournament was intended for heavyweights, and Sakuraba, at 183 pounds, was nearly twenty pounds beneath the UFC's 200 pound designation for the weight class. Purposely reporting himself as 203 pounds in order to gain entry, Sakuraba was paired off against the 243 pound Brazilian Jiu Jitsu blackbelt and former Extreme Fighting champion, Marcus Silveira.

Following a barrage of light blows by Silveira, Sakuraba dropped for a low single leg takedown but referee John McCarthy stopped the fight prematurely before Sakuraba could complete the takedown. A loud protest followed from the crowd and an angry Sakuraba attempted unsuccessfully to take the microphone and address the Japanese audience. However, after reviewing tape, McCarthy changed his decision to a no-contest. Tank Abbott, who had earlier defeated Yoji Anjoh, dropped from the tournament due to an injured hand, leaving Sakuraba and Silveira to face off once more that night in what would be the championship bout of the tournament. This time, Sakuraba claimed the victory, submitting Silveira with an armbar. Afterwards, Sakuraba famously stated, "In fact, professional wrestling is strong". With the victory Sakuraba remains one of the last UFC tournament champions to date.

With Nobuhiko Takada having left Kingdom to challenge Rickson Gracie in a KRS promoted event called Pride, the still struggling promotion capitalized on Sakuraba's newly found popularity establishing him as Kingdom's top talent. He embarked on a winning streak against several foreign mixed martial arts competitors including Paul Herrera, Rene Rooze, Mark Hall and Orlando Weit. However, Kingdom continued to flounder and finally folded in March 1998.

Pride Fighting Championships

Entering the Pride Fighting Championships on the heels of a defeat of stablemate Nobuhiko Takada at the hands of Rickson Gracie in the organization's initial event, Sakuraba was paired off against Vernon White, then a veteran of 32 bouts who also boasted a 20-pound weight advantage. Showcasing a balance of wrestling and submission prowess, Sakuraba came after White with constant takedowns and unceasing submission attempts. White held Sakuraba off for the first two sessions, but was ultimately armbarred towards the end of the third round.

Next, Sakuraba was matched against Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Carlos Newton. Though relatively new to mixed martial arts, Newton had recently disposed of the reigning Shooto light heavyweight champion Erik Paulson with a swift armbar victory and already developed a reputation as a talented grappler. Sakuraba finished the match in the second round, this time with a rolling kneebar. Throughout the bout, both men displayed a high-level of grappling acumen, leading many fans and pundits of mixed martial arts to label it as the definitive grappling match in the history of the sport.

Eager to capitalize on Sakuraba's catch wrestling prowess to reverse the perception that Japanese professional wrestlers were inferior to Brazilian combatants (in part perpetuated by his teammates' own defeats), Sakuraba's next three bouts were scheduled against Brazilian jiu jitsu blackbelts Vitor Belfort, Allan Goes and Luta Livre blackbelt Ebenezer Fontes Braga. Sakuraba, after enduring an early flurry, defeated Belfort by unanimous decision, drew with Goes and submitted Braga via armbar. In a trend that would continue through Sakuraba's Pride career, each opponent occupied a spot near the top of the 205-pound class at the time of their meeting with him and held a weight advantage of around 20 pounds.

"The Gracie Hunter"

After defeating Anthony Macias, Sakuraba was matched against Royler Gracie, who had previously conquered Sakuraba's stablemate Yuhi Sano. It marked the largest weight advantage Sakuraba has enjoyed in his career to date (being around 30 pounds heavier than Royler). Royler, unable to score a takedown or strike effectively from a standing position, remained on the ground in an effort to bait Sakuraba into a grappling-oriented contest, while Sakuraba, standing, landed punishing kicks to Royler's legs, thighs and head. Eventually, with less than two minutes remaining, Sakuraba finally engaged Royler on the ground, soon catching him in a Kimura lock. As Sakuraba wrenched on the submission, the referee intervened with 1 minute and 44 seconds remaining on the clock, ending the contest and awarding Sakuraba the win by TKO. Sakuraba's victory over Royler constituted the first loss by a Gracie in professional fighting in several decades and as such, sent ripples of shock and controversy through the mixed martial arts community. Some protested that the victory was tainted due to the fact that Royler (although placed in a debilitating submission hold) never conceded defeat and was mere seconds away from the final bell when the bout was stopped. It is worth noting that the last Japanese athlete to defeat a Gracie prior to Sakuraba's win against Royler, legendary judoka Masahiko Kimura, had used the very same maneuver Sakuraba utilized to beat Royler. That time, the recipient had been Royler's father, Helio Gracie, who had, like Royler, also refused to submit.

While the Japanese fight media rejoiced and elevated Sakuraba to superstar status, the Gracie family took great umbrage over the incident, feeling that they had been cheated by Pride. Compelled to set the record straight and re-assert the dominance of his family, Royler's younger brother and former UFC champion Royce Gracie returned to the sport of mixed martial arts in 2000 and entered the 16-Man Pride Grand Prix alongside Sakuraba and several other top fighters of the era. Placed on the same side of the bracket, a special set of rules were requested by the Gracies in the event of a Sakuraba-Royce match, including no referee stoppages and no time-limits, the fight ending only in the event of a submission or knock-out. In his first fight of the 2000 Pride tournament Sakuraba once again found himself matched up against a heavier opponent, this time the well-regarded 205-pound fighter, former King of Pancrase Guy Mezger. After a closely fought 15 minutes the judges requested an overtime round, and the fight ended in controversy when Mezger's coach Ken Shamrock forced his fighter back to the locker room in order to protest the judges' inability to render a decision. Sakuraba ended up winning the match by forfeit. Meanwhile, Royce defeated Nobuhiko Takada by unanimous decision and thus set the stage for their much anticipated showdown.

In the tournament quarterfinals Royce and Sakuraba battled for an hour and a half (six 15 minute rounds). Sakuraba nearly ended the match with a knee-bar towards the end of the first round. Later on, Royce returned the favor with a guillotine choke which Sakuraba lingered in, but eventually escaped from. As the confrontation stretched on, the Gracie's own no time-limit rules began to work against Royce as Sakuraba's wrestling skills and balance nullified Royce's ability to score a takedown and—in some instances—even pull guard. Even Royce's ever-present jiu-jitsu gi became a weapon for the wrestler to use against him as Sakuraba used it to help him control Gracie on the instances the fight did come to the ground. However, with Sakuraba's control of the takedown, these instances of ground warfare became increasingly sporadic. After the 90 minute battle of punishing leg kicks, Royce's brother, Rorion threw in the towel. Sakuraba would lose a rematch with Royce in 2007. Royce tested positive for illegal steroids after the fight and was suspended for six months.

Prior to the bout, there was speculation that the fight was largely personal, with Royce looking to avenge his brother and Sakuraba looking to atone for his stablemate's defeats and vindicate professional wrestling and the UWFi once and for all. However, following the stoppage, Royce and Sakuraba embraced in the ring. Gracious in victory, Sakuraba flatteringly pointed to Royce as the superior ground-technician when questioned as to why he didn't engage him on the ground more frequently. Exhausted from his battle with Royce, Sakuraba surprised many when he emerged from the locker room for the tournament semi-finals. His opponent, Igor Vovchanchyn, outweighed him by close to fifty pounds (Sakuraba had come into the bout with Royce lighter than usual, at 176 pounds) and was considered to be the top heavyweight striker of the day. Sakuraba surprised many by taking Vovchanchyn down and nearly finishing him with an armbar. However, fatigue and size both had worn on Sakuraba by now his corner opted to throw in the towel.

Following the Grand Prix, Sakuraba was christened the "Gracie Hunter" by the Japanese sports media. Keeping in tow with his new nickname, Sakuraba sandwiched a swift victory via achilles lock against Shannon Ritch between fights against brothers Renzo Gracie and Ryan Gracie. In contrast to Royler and Royce, Renzo and Ryan were products of Carlson Gracie's approach to jiu-jitsu, which placed a stronger emphasis on combat-ready skills and training without a gi.

At the time of his bout with Sakuraba, Renzo's only loss in 10 bouts was a closely contested decision to Sakuraba's former UWFi stablemate and rival, Kiyoshi Tamura while Maurice Smith, Oleg Taktarov and Abu Dhabi champion Sanae Kikuta numbered amongst his victims. Renzo's stylistic differences from his cousins were in evidence from the outset of his contest against Sakuraba, as he pressed the pace of the bout with a variety of kicks and punches, although few connected. Sakuraba responded in kind, and the striking seemed to stalemate. Throwing his wrestling into the equation, Sakuraba timed a number of double and single leg takedowns against Renzo's flurries from where he alternately attempted to cartwheel past Gracie's guard, malign his legs with kicks from the standing position and even attack with a low dropkick. However, Renzo's defensive skills from bottom nullified the entire gamut of Sakuraba's offensive attempts until mere seconds remained in the battle and the contestants found themselves pressed against the turnbuckle. Sakuraba locked in a kimura and spun around, flipping Renzo to the canvas even as he wrenched his arm behind his back. Like Royler and Helio before him, Renzo refused to submit to the hold despite his elbow being snapped prior to hitting the ground and, even as the referee waved off the contest due to the injury. His arm in a sling, Renzo took the microphone and, before the 35,000 fans assembled at the Seibu Dome, stated that Sakuraba was "the Japanese version of the Gracie family". Renzo has since referred to the bout as his proudest moment in mixed martial arts, due to his refusal to submit in the face of injury.

Ryan Gracie, who had fought on the same card and emerged victorious, issued a challenge to Sakuraba and the two were subsequently scheduled to meet at Pride 12. Due to a shoulder injury, the fight was limited to a single 10-minute round, where Ryan's spirited efforts were generally stymied and controlled by Sakuraba, who noticeably avoided attacks on his younger opponent's injured arm.

MMA and BJJ instructor Gene Simco claims that some sources stated that Sergio Penha, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor, may have been training Sakuraba in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu during his course of victories over Gracie family.

Decline and comeback

Following the win against Ryan, Sakuraba battled Wanderlei Silva. Sakuraba knocked Wanderlei down, but the Brazilian Muay Thai specialist recovered to TKO Sakuraba via knees to the head on the ground in the initial minutes of the first round. It marked Sakuraba's second defeat in mixed martial arts and his first loss in the 205-pound division. In spite of his weight disadvantage, Sakuraba had been a heavy favorite to win. Sakuraba then shocked the audience by giving Silva his belt entitled ''SAKU'' on it. Wanderlei then stated that he would willingly give Sakuraba a rematch if Sakuraba wanted another match with him.

After sitting out the next Pride to recuperate, Sakuraba found himself across the ring from Quinton Jackson, a former collegiate wrestler who had compiled a record of 10–1 on the American circuit. At the sound of the bell, Sakuraba immediately took the bigger and more powerful man to the canvas with a low single-leg takedown. However, Jackson's superior size and enormous physical strength allowed him to muscle out of Sakuraba's submission attempts. After locking his legs about Jackson for a triangle choke, Sakuraba found himself hefted into the air and repeatedly powerbombed to the canvas. Later, he attempted an armbar against Jackson, only for the Tennessee native to again lift him up and this time, attempt to drop him from the ring. His expression unchanging through the course of Jackson's assault, Sakuraba continued to flow from one lock to another. Eventually, he took the back of a by-then exhausted Jackson and submitted him with his first rear naked choke victory. The contest was a launchpad for Jackson's career, leading to a long-term contract with Pride where he eventually became regarded as a top middleweight competitor.

It also re-established Sakuraba's proficiency in dealing with larger opponents and placed him back in line for another shot at Wanderlei Silva in Pride's next event, this time to decide Pride's inaugural 205-pound champion. Usually prone to humorous entrances, it was a somber and focused Sakuraba that came down the aisle for his rematch with Silva. As with Jackson, Sakuraba was able to score an early takedown in the bout, where he then worked from Silva's guard. After several minutes searching for an opening, he finally found one when Silva attempted to escape to his feet. Sakuraba locked on a tight guillotine, but was countered by a slam from Wanderlei which ended up breaking his collar bone. Not willing to let him go on so hampered, his corner threw in the towel between rounds.

Sakuraba took time off to let his shoulder heal, then returned against heavyweight kickboxer Mirko Filipovic. Sakuraba managed to take Filipovic down, but sustained another injury, this time a broken orbital bone done by a powerful punch from the guard . Finally assenting to place him in competition against fighters of his own weight class, Pride management put him against French jiu jitsu champion Gilles Arsene in a bout Sakuraba dominated and then against Rickson Gracie protege, Antonio Schembri. With a win over Schembri, it was speculated that Sakuraba might be then groomed for a championship fight in a new weight division for fighters of his size. Sakuraba dominated Schembri until Schembri stunned Sakuaraba with a flurry of knees to the head, knocking him unconscious.

This seemed to mark a turning point in Sakuraba's career; though he was unbeaten in his first nine Pride bouts, he thereafter split his next six matches before suffering a particularly devastating loss against Ricardo Arona at Pride's Middleweight Grand Prix event in June 2005, during which his face became severely swollen and bloody due to repeated knee strikes to the head while in the downed position; his corner stopped the fight after the second round. Following the win, Pride president Sakakibara suggested Sakuraba might move down in weight to compete in their newly formed 183-pound division. However, instead of moving down in weight, Sakuraba began training at Chute Boxe Academy in Brazil alongside his one-time rival, Wanderlei Silva.

Upon completion of his training, he made his return to the ring to engage in yet another contest at the 205-pound limit, this time against fellow catch wrestler Ken Shamrock. Three minutes into the bout, Sakuraba struck through Shamrock's guard with a left hand. Shamrock staggered back and ultimately fell into the ropes, his head hanging out of the ring, his back turned to Sakuraba. Sakuraba rushed in to follow up but before any meaningful offense could be launched, the fight was halted by referee Yuji Shimada. Shamrock sprang to his feet immediately following the KO and protested vigorously. Opinions have been mixed regarding the KO's legitimacy; Ken's adopted brother and rival, Frank, has stated he believed the stoppage was justified, while others have come down on the opposing side.

Prior to Pride's ''Shockwave 2005'' New Year's Eve event, Sakuraba strongly petitioned for a match against Kiyoshi Tamura, even going so far as to publicly request a bout with Tamura. However, with Tamura refusing to face him, Sakuraba recommended fellow catch-wrestler and professional wrestling proponent, Ikuhisa Minowa, who refers to himself as a "Real Pro Wrestler." Sakuraba did not request the match due to any grudge against Minowa, but rather because he believed that he and Minowa would put on a fight worthy of the Shockwave event. The bout was a competitive one, with Minowa getting the better of Sakuraba striking-wise and nearly catching him first with a kneebar and then a heel-hook. In the end, Sakuraba managed to outwrestle Minowa on the ground and catch him in a kimura which, although Minowa would not tap to it, would nonetheless prompt the referee to halt the contest. The victory would mark his final bout under the Pride banner; ironically, it also marked one of the few times he was matched against an opponent of his own size from the 183-pound division and his first bout against a Japanese fighter.

Hero's

On 3 May 2006, Sakuraba surprisingly appeared with Hero's head Akira Maeda at a Hero's event wearing his street clothes (yellow shirt and blue jeans) and a pro wrestling mask in the style of one of his childhood heroes, Tiger Mask. He did not reveal himself, but it was apparent that it was a masked Sakuraba and that he signed with K-1 and FEG. A day later, Sakuraba appeared at a FEG press conference to announce he would fight in Hero's. His defection to Hero's was a culmination of several signs that suggested he was leaving Pride. It was reported that Sakuraba left Takada Dojo (run by Pride's general manager, Nobuhiko Takada), and conspicuously was not entered into Pride's 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix Tournament.

Sakuraba was then scheduled to compete in Hero's Light Heavyweight Tournament. His first opponent was the 16–5 Lithuanian Kęstutis Smirnovas. Sakuraba opened the fight striking aggressively and even flooring Smirnovas with a kick. However, as he was coming in to follow up, Smirnovas caught Sakuraba cleanly, knocking him down to his knees and hands. Sakuraba then turned over, sliding beneath the bottom rope, where Smirnovas unleashed repeated blows to his head. Sakuraba seemed at this point unable to defend himself; when the referee stepped between the two fighters, it seemed likely he was moving to put an end to the contest. However, instead of halting the battle, the referee re-positioned the fighters from underneath the bottom rope into the ring and resumed the bout. Though the re-starting of fighters who have found themselves near or outside the ropes is common practice, it was nonetheless controversial.

Following the re-start, Smirnovas picked up where he'd left off, pounding a supine Sakuraba whose only defense seemed to turtle up. Finally, Sakuraba got to his feet and worked for a single-leg on Smirnovas. The attempt was thwarted and again Sakuraba found himself beneath the Lithuanian who this time attempted to work a rear-naked choke. Sakuraba escaped the attempt and returned his feet once again. From this point on, Sakuraba's earlier cobwebs seemed to have cleared and he began to land combinations upon the Lithuanian with greater and greater frequency until Smirnovas finally collapsed from the assault. Sakuraba assumed side-control and swiftly moved into an armbar. Smirnovas fought the technique as long as he could, but was eventually forced to submit to spare his arm which had been fully extended.

Initially there were some doubts as to whether Sakuraba would be able to make it into the next round of the Hero's tournament based on the severity of the damage he endured against Smirnovas. However, Sakuraba reported that a follow-up CAT scan had found no irregularities and was then slated to face one-time Olympic judoka, Yoshihiro Akiyama in the tournament's semi-finals on October 9 in what K-1 hoped would be a high revenue match-up. The winner of that bout was to face the victor between Melvin Manhoef and Shungo Oyama to determine a tournament champion.

However, during a hard sparring session for the upcoming bout Sakuraba began vomiting and fainted. After being rushed to the hospital he was diagnosed with vertebrobasilar damage that restricted blood circulation to the head and neck area. The doctors determined the damage was caused from years of untreated head injuries dating back to his college years.

In spite of this revelation, Sakuraba was—rather than being granted a break to recover and possibly undergo surgery—scheduled to return to action on 31 December 2006 against Yoshihiro Akiyama at K-1 Dynamite!!. The bout ended with Sakuraba struggling to execute a kneebar submission while Akiyama attacked with ground and pound. Words were exchanged between Sakuraba and referee Yoshinori Umeki prior to the stop, which was brought on by the sounding of a bell at the behest of Akira Maeda, the event coordinator, the referee separating the fighters following the bell rather than initiating the stop himself.

Afterwards, the usually soft-spoken Sakuraba surprised many with complaints that Akiyama's body had been greased. The referee in charge subsequently checked Akiyama's body and gave indication to ringside officials that he had not found anything unusual. In the aftermath of the fight the controversy escalated drastically and new accusations of weighed gloves also surfaced. To deal with the growing controversy, K-1 launched an investigation to look into the accusations against Akiyama. Although Akiyama's gloves were found to be regulation, video-tape revealed Akiyama administering a lotion to his skin. Akiyama—who attested he was simply treating his dry skin—was found to have been "negligent" and disqualified. The fight was subsequently declared a no-contest and Akiyama's purse was withheld. A press conference followed, wherein Akiyama—now heavily maligned by the Japanese sports media—offered a public apology.

Although Sakuraba wore a shirt into the ring against Akiyama which read "K Sakuraba: End of Service", his experience against Akiyama apparently changed his plans regarding retirement and at Heros 8 he submitted the winless Yurij Kiseliov by armbar.

Following that win, he would next share the mixed martial arts ring with his fellow catch wrestler and UWFi alum, Kiyoshi Tamura. Once again donning the guise of his childhood hero, Tiger Mask, as he had to signal his exodus from Pride Fighting Championships to Heros, Sakuraba this time wore the mask to mark the occasion of his return to Pride at their final DSE promoted show, Kamikaze. Before the assembled crowd at the Saitama Super Arena—Pride's most frequented venue—Sakuraba and Tamura publicly voiced their willingness to meet in a Pride ring, before shaking hands and embracing. A bout between Tamura and Sakuraba had been one of Pride's most frequently promised match-ups, one that had never been delivered upon in spite of several efforts to put it together.

On 2 June 2007, Sakuraba rematched Royce Gracie in K-1 Dynamite!! USA. The bout itself was fought at a relatively slow pace; Sakuraba knocked Gracie to the canvas in the opening seconds and finished the bout searching for an armbar, having taken the back of Gracie. In the intervening time, Sakuraba scored multiple takedowns while Gracie scored a number of kicks to the legs and face once on bottom. Royce won by unanimous decision. Gracie tested positive for steroids after the bout.

Sakuraba returned to the ring on 17 September 2007 at K-1 Hero's 10 against former NJPW pro wrestler Katsuyori Shibata. Prior to the bout, Shibata's trainer, Masakatsu Funaki had challenged Sakuraba on the basis that he their styles would make for an entertaining contest. Shibata came out striking aggressively, but was soon taken to the canvas by Sakuraba's trademark single leg. Shibata unleashed a torrent of blows off his back, but the more experienced Sakuraba responded with strikes of his own before transitioning into an arm bar and finishing the bout.

Sakuraba versus Funaki

Following his victory, Sakuraba praised the fighting spirit of Shibata and accepted Funaki's challenge. Much like Sakuraba, Funaki was trained in catch wrestling and emerged into the world of mixed martial arts on the heels of a career in the UWF (the direct predecessor of Sakuraba's UWF International). Both men also held in common a past history of submission wins over world-class opposition and recognition as two of the top Japanese mixed martial artists to date. Appropriately, their bout took place in the main event of K-1's year end Dynamite!! show, which garners more TV viewers each year than any other televised mixed martial arts event in Japan.

After exchanging professional wrestling-inspired entrances, the submission specialists traded strikes. Funaki's arsenal of punches and kicks appeared to be quicker and more powerful, but Sakuraba was able to sneak in a double-leg take down after Funaki committed heavily to a missed right cross. On the ground, Funaki closed guard around Sakuraba before opening it up to spin for a knee-bar. For a moment, Funaki appeared to secure Sakuraba's leg only to be thwarted by a combination of Sakuraba's submission acumen and their position against the ring ropes, which blocked Funaki from rolling with the hold. Sakuraba then maneuvered to Funaki's back, only for the Pancrase founder to roll back into the guard position. Breaking away from the grappling contest, Sakuraba stood up and began to assault the still-prone Funaki's legs with a series of kicks. Funaki answered with a kick of his own, blackening Sakuraba's eye and cutting his face. Sakuraba returned himself to the ground, where Funaki immediately attempted to sweep him. However, Sakuraba blocked the attempt and secured a double wristlock, eventually forcing Funaki to submit.

Dream

In 2008, it was announced that Kazushi Sakuraba would compete in the Middleweight Grand Prix of the new MMA promotion, Dream. On 29 April 2008, Sakuraba defeated Andrews Nakahara in the main event at Dream.2 Middle Weight Grandprix 2008 1st Round. However, he was knocked out (and thus eliminated from the tournament) by Melvin Manhoef in the main event of Dream.4 Middle Weight Grandprix 2008 2nd Round. During the match, Sakuraba suffered an ulnar fracture of the left forearm, which was caused by a kick from Manhoef . Sakuraba has twice returned to the DREAM promotion, losing to Kiyoshi Tamura at Dynamite!! 2008 and most recently defeating boxer turned mixed martial artist Rubin Williams at Dream 11. Sakuraba then faced Croatian Zelg Galesic on Dream 12. Sakuraba took Galesic to the ground via single leg takedown and he immediately transitioned to a leg lock. Galesic tried to defend himself against the submission by raining punches on Sakuraba. Sakuraba absorbed the punches and held on to Galesic's leg until he successfully made the Croatian tap out due to a kneebar.

On May 29 he faced Ralek Gracie, at the Saitama Super Arena in Dream.14. where he lost by unanimous decision.

On September 25, at Dream.16, Sakuraba lost to Jason "Mayhem" Miller via arm triangle choke.

Sakuraba fought for the DREAM Welterweight Championship against current champion Marius Zaromskis at Dynamite!! 2010 on December 2010. The fight ended in doctor stoppage, Sakuraba's ear was partially ripped off.

The Japanese legend has not competed since suffering a gruesome ear injury at Dynamite!! 2010. Hayato "Mach" Sakurai has been mentioned as a possible Sakuraba opponent.

Awards and championships

Mixed martial arts

'''PRIDE Fighting Championships

2000 PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix Semi-Finalist

Tokyo Sports Grand Prix Most Valuable Player (2000) Outstanding Performance (1999)

Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC Japan Heavyweight Tournament Winner

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2004)

2001 Best Box Office Draw

2001 Feud of the Year (vs. Wanderlei Silva)

2000 Best Shootfighter

2000 Best Shoot Match (vs. Royce Gracie)

Professional wrestling

Kingdom Kingdom One Million Yen Tournament Winner

Amateur wrestling

National championship runner-up (high school)

East Japan Freshman championship

All Japan collegiate wrestling championships (4th place)

Mixed martial arts record

| |align=center| | Yan Cabral | | Dream.17 | |align=center| |align=center| | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 26–15–1(2) | Marius Žaromskis | TKO (doctor stoppage) | Dynamite!! 2010 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 2:16 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | For Dream Welterweight Championship. |- | Loss |align=center| 26–14–1(2) | Jason Miller | Submission (arm-triangle) | Dream.16 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 2:09 | Nagoya, Aichi, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 26–13–1(2) | Ralek Gracie | Decision (unanimous) | Dream.14 | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 5:00 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 26–12–1(2) | Zelg Galesic | Submission (kneebar) | Dream.12 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 1:40 | Osaka, Osaka, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 25–12–1(2) | Rubin Williams | Submission (kimura) | Dream 11 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 2:53 | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 24–12–1(2) | Kiyoshi Tamura | Decision (unanimous) | Dynamite!! 2008 | |align=center| 2 |align=center| 5:00 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 24–11–1(2) | Melvin Manhoef | TKO (punches) | Dream 4 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 1:30 | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan | Dream MWGP Quarter-Final |- | Win |align=center| 24–10–1(2) | Andrews Nakahara | Submission (neck crank) | Dream 2 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 8:20 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | Dream MWGP Opening Round |- | Win |align=center| 23–10–1(2) | Masakatsu Funaki | Submission (kimura) | K-1 PREMIUM 2007 Dynamite!! | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 6:25 | Osaka, Osaka, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 22–10–1(2) | Katsuyori Shibata | Submission (armbar) | Hero's 10: Middleweight Tournament Final | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 6:20 | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 21–10–1(2) | Royce Gracie | Decision (unanimous) | K-1 Dynamite!! USA | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 5:00 | Los Angeles, California, United States | Gracie tested positive for steroids after the fight. |- | Win |align=center| 21–9–1(2) | Yurij Kiselov | Submission (triangle armbar) | Hero's 8 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 1:26 | Nagoya, Aichi, Japan | |- | NC |align=center| 20–9–1(2) | Yoshihiro Akiyama | No Contest | K-1 PREMIUM 2006 Dynamite!! | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 5:37 | Osaka, Osaka, Japan | Original TKO loss; was ruled a no contest after Akiyama confessed to applying lotion before the fight. |- | Win |align=center| 20–9–1(1) | Kestutis Smirnovas | Submission (armbar) | Hero's 6 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 6:41 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 19–9–1(1) | Ikuhisa Minowa | Technical submission (kimura) | Pride Shockwave 2005 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 9:59 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 18–9–1(1) | Ken Shamrock | TKO (punch) | Pride 30 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 2:27 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 17–9–1(1) | Ricardo Arona | TKO (corner stoppage) | Pride Critical Countdown 2005 | |align=center| 2 |align=center| 5:00 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Quarterfinal |- | Win |align=center| 17–8–1(1) | Yoon Dong-Sik | KO (punches) | Pride Total Elimination 2005 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 0:38 | Osaka, Osaka, Japan | Pride 2005 Middleweight GP Opening Round |- | Win |align=center| 16–8–1(1) | Nino Schembri | Decision (unanimous) | Pride Critical Countdown 2004 | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 5:00 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 15–8–1(1) | Antonio Rogerio Nogueira | Decision (unanimous) | Pride Shockwave 2003 | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 5:00 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 15–7–1(1) | Kevin Randleman | Submission (armbar) | Pride Final Conflict 2003 | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 2:36 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 14–7–1(1) | Wanderlei Silva | KO (punch) | Pride Total Elimination 2003 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 5:01 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | Pride 2003 Middleweight GP Opening Round |- | Loss |align=center| 14–6–1(1) | Nino Schembri | TKO (knees) | Pride 25 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 6:15 | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 14–5–1(1) | Gilles Arsene | Submission (armbar) | Pride 23 | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 2:08 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 13–5–1(1) | Mirko Filipović | TKO (eye injury) | Pride Shockwave | |align=center| 2 |align=center| 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 13–4–1(1) | Wanderlei Silva | TKO (doctor stoppage) | Pride 17 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 10:00 | Tokyo, Japan | For Pride Middleweight Championship |- | Win |align=center| 13–3–1(1) | Quinton Jackson | Submission (rear-naked choke) | Pride 15 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 5:41 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 12–3–1(1) | Wanderlei Silva | TKO (strikes) | Pride 13 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 1:38 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 12–2–1(1) | Ryan Gracie | Decision (unanimous) | Pride 12 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 10:00 | Saitama, Saitama, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 11–2–1(1) | Shannon Ritch | Submission (achilles lock) | Pride 11 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 1:08 | Osaka, Osaka, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 10–2–1(1) | Renzo Gracie | Technical submission (kimura) | Pride 10 | |align=center| 2 |align=center| 9:43 | Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan | |- | Loss |align=center| 9–2–1(1) | Igor Vovchanchyn | TKO (corner stoppage) | Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 15:00 | Tokyo, Japan | Pride 2000 Openweight GP Semifinal |- | Win |align=center| 9–1–1(1) | Royce Gracie | TKO (corner stoppage) | Pride Grand Prix 2000 Finals | |align=center| 6 |align=center| 15:00 | Tokyo, Japan | Pride 2000 Openweight GP Quarterfinal. Rules modified for unlimited rounds/no ref stoppages. |- | Win |align=center| 8–1–1(1) | Guy Mezger | TKO (retirement) | Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 15:00 | Tokyo, Japan | Pride 2000 Openweight GP Opening Round; Mezger forfeited due to contract dispute. |- | Win |align=center| 7–1–1(1) | Royler Gracie | Technical submission (kimura) | Pride 8 | |align=center| 2 |align=center| 13:16 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 6–1–1(1) | Anthony Macias | Submission (armbar) | Pride 7 | |align=center| 2 |align=center| 2:30 | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 5–1–1(1) | Ebenezer Fontes Braga | Submission (armbar) | Pride 6 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 9:23 | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 4–1–1(1) | Vitor Belfort | Decision (unanimous) | Pride 5 | |align=center| 2 |align=center| 10:00 | Nagoya, Aichi, Japan | |- | Draw |align=center| 3–1–1(1) | Allan Goes | Draw | Pride 4 | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 10:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 3–1(1) | Carlos Newton | Submission (kneebar) | Pride 3 | |align=center| 2 |align=center| 5:19 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 2–1(1) | Vernon White | Submission (armbar) | Pride 2 | |align=center| 3 |align=center| 6:53 | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan | |- | Win |align=center| 1–1(1) | Marcus Silveira | Submission (armbar) | UFC Japan | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 3:44 | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan | Won UFC Ultimate Japan Heavyweight Tournament. |- | NC |align=center| 0–1(1) | Marcus Silveira | No Contest (early stoppage) | UFC Japan | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 1:51 | Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan |Referee John McCarthy stopped the bout while Sakuraba was going in for a takedown |- | Loss |align=center| 0–1 | Kimo Leopoldo | Submission (arm-triangle) | Shoot Boxing - S-Cup 1996 | |align=center| 1 |align=center| 4:20 | Tokyo, Japan | Openweight bout, Kimo weighed in over 60lbs than Sakuraba.

Professional wrestling record

{| style="font-size:85%; text-align:left; width:100%;" class="wikitable sortable" | style="text-align:center; border-style:none none solid solid; background:#f0f0f0;"|Result | style="text-align:center; border-style:none none solid solid; background:#f0f0f0;"|Record | style="text-align:center; border-style:none none solid solid; background:#f0f0f0;"|Opponent | style="text-align:center; border-style:none none solid solid; background:#f0f0f0;"|Method | style="text-align:center; border-style:none none solid solid; background:#f0f0f0;"|Event | style="text-align:center; border-style:none none solid solid; background:#f0f0f0;"|Date | style="text-align:center; border-style:none none solid solid; background:#f0f0f0;"|Round | style="text-align:center; border-style:none none solid solid; background:#f0f0f0;"|Time | style="text-align:center; border-style:none none solid solid; background:#f0f0f0;"|Location | style="text-align:center; border-style:none none solid solid; background:#f0f0f0;"|Notes |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Larry Parker |Submission (Kimura) |Kingdom |January 28, 1998 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|5:48 | Tokyo, Japan | |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Paul Herrera |Submission (Toe Hold) |Kingdom - Ambition |December 14, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|1:48 | Tokyo, Japan | |- |align="center" Loss | style="text-align:center;"| | Hiromitsu Kanehara |KO (Left High Kick) |Kingdom |December 8, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|7:18 | Kagoshima, Japan | |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Hiromitsu Kanehara |Submission (Armbar) |Kingdom |December 2, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|11.41 | Fukuoka, Japan | |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Kenichi Yamamoto |Submission |Kingdom |November 19, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|5:52 | Sapporo, Japan | |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Greg Douglas |Submission (Toe Hold) |Kingdom |November 3, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|1:18 | Tokyo, Japan | |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Kenichi Yamamoto |Submission (Armbar) |Kingdom - Million Yen Tournament 2 |September 20, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|7:18 | Beppu, Japan | Wins Million Yen Tournament 2. |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Hiromitsu Kanehara |Submission |Kingdom - Million Yen Tournament 2 |September 20, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"| | Beppu, Japan | |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Dajiro Matsui |Submission |Kingdom - Million Yen Tournament 2 |September 20, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"| | Beppu, Japan | |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Moti Horenstein |Submission (Armbar) |Kingdom - Prelude for the World |September 3, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|11:18 | Tokyo, Japan | |- |align="center" Loss | style="text-align:center;"| | Yuhi Sano |Submission (Toe Hold) |Kingdom - Million Yen Tournament 1 |August 22, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|5:27 | Niigata, Japan | |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Yoji Anjoh |Submission |Kingdom - Million Yen Tournament 1 |August 22, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"| | Niigata, Japan | |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Orlando Wiet |Submission (Rear Naked Choke) |Kingdom - Birth Step 3 |July 29, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|6:01 | Tokyo, Japan | |- |align="center" Loss | style="text-align:center;"| | Yoji Anjoh |Submission (Kneebar) |Kingdom - Birth Step 2 |July 20, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|11:17 | Tokyo, Japan | |- |align="center" Win | style="text-align:center;"| | Yuhi Sano |Submission (Heel Hold) |Kingdom - Birth Step 1 |May 4, 1997 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|7:53 | Tokyo, Japan | |- |align="center" Loss | style="text-align:center;"| | Mark Silver |Submission (Rear Naked Choke) |UWFI - The Fight of Champions: Japan-USA-Russia Final |October 4, 1993 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|7:14 | Tokyo, Japan | |- |align="center" Loss | style="text-align:center;"| | Mark Silver |Submission |UWFI - ISKA World Light Welterweight Final |September 5, 1993 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"| | Tokyo, Japan | |- |align="center" Loss | style="text-align:center;"| | Steve Nelson |Submission |UWFI - The Fight of Champions III |August 13, 1993 | style="text-align:center;"|1 | style="text-align:center;"|6.09 | Tokyo, Japan | |- |}

See also

List of male mixed martial artists

References

External links

Pride FC Profile

Dream Profile

Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Japanese mixed martial artists Category:Welterweight mixed martial artists Category:Middleweight mixed martial artists Category:Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Category:Japanese sport wrestlers Category:Japanese professional wrestlers Category:People from Akita Prefecture

es:Kazushi Sakuraba fr:Kazushi Sakuraba ko:사쿠라바 가즈시 ja:桜庭和志 no:Kazushi Sakuraba pl:Kazushi Sakuraba pt:Kazushi Sakuraba fi:Kazushi Sakuraba sv:Kazushi Sakuraba zh-yue:櫻庭和志

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
name	Fedor Emelianenko
native name	Фёдор Емельяненко
native lang	Russian
birth name	Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko
birth date	September 28, 1976
birth place	Rubizhne, Luhansk, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
other names	The Last Emperor
nationality	Russian
height ft	6
height in	0
weight lb	223
weight class	Heavyweight (265 lb)
reach in	74
style	Sambo, Judo, Boxing,
stance	Orthodox
fighting out of	Stary Oskol, Belgorod, Russia
team	Red Devil Sport Club
trainer	Vladimir Voronov ''(Sambo and Judo)'' Alexander Michkov ''(Boxing)''
rank	International Master of Sports and Black Belt in Judo 1st Razryad Grand Master in Sambo
years active	2000–present (MMA)
mma win	31
mma kowin	8
mma subwin	16
mma decwin	7
mma loss	4
mma koloss	3
mma subloss	1
mma nc	1
spouse	Oksana (1999–2006) Marina (2009–present)
children	2
relatives	Alexander Emelianenko (brother) Ivan Emelianenko (brother)
url	http://efedor.ru/index_eng.shtml
sherdog	1500
updated	}}

}}

Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko) (born September 28, 1976) is a Russian heavyweight mixed martial artist. He has won numerous tournaments and accolades in multiple sports, most notably the Pride 2004 Grand Prix and the World Combat Sambo championship on four occasions, as well as medaling in the Russian national Judo championship.

He holds the distinction of having held five separate major championships, including the RINGS Open-Weight and Absolute Class Tournament winner, the Pride Fighting Championships World Heavyweight and Heavyweight Grand Prix Championships, and the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts Heavyweight Championship. He holds notable wins over many former champions such as Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (twice), Mirko Filipovic, Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Kevin Randleman, Mark Coleman (twice), Semmy Schilt and Renato Sobral.

Emelianenko has received widespread acclaim from several major publications, including ''Sports Illustrated'', ''USA Today'', and ''Sherdog.com''. Many analysts, as well as former and current fighters, consider Emelianenko to be the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. He remained undefeated for nearly a decade, during which time he was widely considered the best heavyweight fighter in mixed martial arts, but is now on a three-fight losing streak.

Biography

Emelianenko was born in 1976 in the city of Rubizhne, Luhansk in what was then the Ukrainian SSR (now Ukraine). In 1978, when he was two, his family moved within the Soviet Union to Stary Oskol, Belgorod of the Russian SFSR. His mother, Olga Fedorovna, was a teacher and his father, Vladimir Alexandrovich Emelianenko, was a welder. Emelianenko is the second child in the family and has an older sister and two younger brothers, including professional mixed martial artist Alexander Emelianenko. Fedor trains with his youngest brother Ivan, who has competed in Combat Sambo, and plans to begin a career in MMA in 2010.

Emelianenko finished high school in 1991 and graduated with honors from a professional trade school in 1994. From 1995 until 1997, he served in the Russian Army as a military firefighter. In 1999, he married his wife Oksana, and their daughter Masha was born in the same year. They divorced in 2006. On December 29, 2007, his second daughter, Vasilisa, was born to his long time girlfriend Marina. Emelianenko and Marina married in October 2009. In his spare time, he likes to read, listen to music, and draw. He is a practicing Orthodox Christian and a parishioner at the church of St. Nicholas in Stary Oskol. His confessor is archpriest Andrei Zinoviev. His entrance theme song, ''oy, to ne vecher'', was performed at his request by archdeacon Andrey Zheleznyakov, solist at the Episcopal Choir of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese.

Emelianenko had the honour of being one of 80 Russian sporting champions, cultural icons and national heroes to carry the Olympic torch in St. Petersburg in 2008.

Club affiliation

Emelianenko began his mixed martial arts as a member of Russian Top Team (RTT), training with the first generation of Russian RINGS competitors, such as Volk Han and Andrey Kopylov. After winning his Pride Heavyweight title, a rift grew between Emelianenko and the manager of RTT, Vladimir Evgenevich Pogodin. According to Emelianenko, Pogodin, who held the position of vice-president in the World Sambo Federation, attempted to control Emelianenko's career through threats and abuse of his position to deny "Master of Sport" ranks to Fedor and his brother Alexander. Emelianenko alleged he was deceived by Pogodin in financial disputes between Pogodin and Emelianenko. After his bout with Gary Goodridge, the Emelianenko brothers left Russian Top Team and began to train in St. Petersburg with the Red Devil Sport Club, which is managed by Vadim Finkelstein. To date, Finkelstein is still his manager. Emelianenko is a member of the VOS gym in Holland, where he trains with Johan Vos and Lucien Carbin. Emelianenko has trained with the likes of Ernesto Hoost, Tyrone Spong, and Denis Lebedev.

Mixed martial arts career

RINGS

Emelianenko made his MMA debut for the Japanese RINGS organization. RINGS had a different set of rules that did not allow head strikes on the ground (which later on would be recognized as one of Emelianenko's biggest strengths).

Here Emelianenko suffered his first loss in the sport, a very controversial one that came at the hands of Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at the King of Kings 2000 Block B event on December 22, 2000, via doctor stoppage due to a cut 17 seconds into the fight. Footage shows that the cut was caused by a missed looping punch where Kohsaka's elbow struck Emelianenko's head. Elbow strikes were illegal under RINGS rules unless the striker was wearing elbow pads, which Kohsaka was not. Emelianenko says that this elbow reopened a cut sustained in his previous fight against Ricardo Arona. Since the fight was in a tournament format, a winner and loser were required as draws or no-contests could not be awarded. Since Emelianenko could not advance due to his injury, Kohsaka moved on (the match would have been a no contest or disqualification victory for Emelianenko otherwise). Many MMA fans disregard that loss due to its illegal nature, and considered Emelianenko to be technically undefeated in MMA until he lost to Fabricio Werdum. The tournament was eventually won by Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who would later be Emelianenko's fiercest rival in MMA. Emelianenko would later avenge the first loss of his career when he rematched Kohsaka at Pride Bushido 6.

After defeating veteran Renato Sobral in an elimination bout, Emelianenko went on fight for the World Heavyweight Class Championship against Bobby Hoffman the same night. However, Hoffman refused to fight Emelianenko, claiming he sustained a injury to his shoulder during his previous match, and forfeited the final. A win was awarded to Emelianenko by default, and he was given the RINGS Heavyweight Class Championship.

On February 15, 2002, Emelianenko defeated Chris Haseman and won the RINGS Absolute Class Tournament, the last tournament ever held by RINGS.

Pride Fighting Championships

Entering the Pride Fighting Championships on the heels of winning the RINGS King of Kings 2002 tournament, Emelianenko debuted at Pride 21 on June 23, 2002 against the , Dutch fighter Semmy Schilt, whom he defeated by unanimous decision. His next opponent was heavyweight Heath Herring, in a contest to establish the number-one contender for the heavyweight title. Emelianenko, considered an underdog at the time, dominated Herring with ground and pound, winning by doctor stoppage after the first round. This victory against a perennial contender brought him into title contention.

Emelianenko was then signed to fight heavily favored Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira for Pride's Heavyweight Championship title at Pride 25 on March 16, 2003. Nogueira was coming off wins against Mark Coleman, Heath Herring and a shocking comeback victory against Bob Sapp, as well as his victory in the RINGS 2000 King of Kings Tournament, in which Emelianenko had participated. Nogueira was considered by many fans to be virtually unbeatable, due to his endurance and submission skills. Emelianenko rocked him early with punches, and Nogueira pulled guard. Emelianenko then survived Nogueira's guard, considered the most dangerous in MMA, and easily defended all of Nogueira's submission attempts, dominating him for 20 minutes with a brutal ground and pound. The judges rendered a unanimous decision, and Emelianenko became the second Pride Heavyweight Champion, a title he would never lose.

Three months later Emelianenko embarked on his title reign. His first match was against the former IWGP Heavyweight champion, amateur and professional wrestler Kazuyuki Fujita. A heavy favorite, Emelianenko was expected to make quick work of Fujita, but was caught by a right hook that stunned him. Badly hurt, he worked his way to a clinch, but was taken down. With Fujita unable to amount a significant offense Emelianenko was able to recover. Emelianenko worked his way up and knocked Fujita down with body kick and a punching combo. He then submitted Fujita at 4:17 in the first round with a rear naked choke. Emelianenko reminisced about it in February 2009, "Fujita is the only one who ever hit me right, and he hit hard!".

Next came a one-sided bout against heavy underdog Gary "Big Daddy" Goodridge at Total Elimination 2003. Emelianenko took down Goodridge after wobbling him with standing combinations, then finished him with a ground and pound technique in the first round by referee stoppage after delivering unanswered punches and kicks to the head. Emelianenko broke his hand in this fight, resulting in surgery. He has since reinjured this hand, leading to the postponement of several bouts. In 2011, Goodridge recalled his fight with Emelianenko; "Fedor hits so hard, I don't remember anything (from the fight). No one has his speed and power combo. He fought for 10 years at the top. He doesn't owe anything else to the sport."

His next fight against New Japan professional wrestler Yuji Nagata at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 ended the same way, with Emelianenko first knocking Nagata to the ground twice with punches. Emelianenko fought at this event as opposed to Shockwave 2003 on the same day due to being offered a higher fight purse because of the great deal of competition between the Japanese television networks screening these events and K-1 Premium Dynamite!! on the same night. That move upset the managers of PRIDE, who set up an interim title match between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko Crocop Filipović, which ended with Nogueira pulling yet another comeback victory, scoring a second round armbar.

Pride Heavyweight Grand Prix 2004

Four months later, he returned to PRIDE, at Total Elimination 2004, where he met Pride 2000 Grand Prix winner and former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Heavyweight Champion Mark Coleman for the first time in the ring. After getting taken down, he pulled guard and submitted Coleman with an armbar at 2:11 of the first round to advance in the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix. That fight showed more of Emelianenko's versatility, as he not only had a good top game with his trademark ground and pound, but a dangerous bottom game from his guard, being able to submit legitimate opponents from his back.

A notable match with Coleman's protégé Kevin "The Monster" Randleman followed just two months later at the tournament's second round. Randleman, a two-time Division I NCAA Wrestling Champion for Ohio State University and a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, was coming off an upset win over Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, which he ended by knockout. Randleman quickly scored a takedown. As Emelianenko gave his back, Randleman delivered a German suplex, slamming him to the canvas headfirst, a move that would become one of the most replayed highlights in PRIDE's and MMA's history for years to come. Emelianenko, seemingly unfazed, rolled over Randleman a few seconds later, getting top position and forcing him to submit with a kimura armlock 1:33 into the first round.

On August 15, 2004, Emelianenko faced six-time All-Japan Judo Champion and Olympic Silver Medalist Naoya Ogawa in the semifinals of the 2004 Grand Prix. After making quick work of Ogawa, winning by armbar, he advanced to face Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira for the second time in his career. Nogueira had won a decision against Emelianenko's former teammate Sergei Kharitonov earlier that night. This match was not only to decide the winner of the 2004 Grand Prix, but to unify the heavyweight championship as Nogueira was awarded the interim title due to Emelianenko's inability to defend his championship in a timely manner in the previous year. The rematch with Nogueira was very competitive, but the fight was stopped prematurely due to a cut to Emelianenko's head from an accidental clash of heads while on the ground. A third meeting was thus scheduled for Shockwave 2004, which Emelianenko won. On the line was PRIDE's Heavyweight Championship, and PRIDE's 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix title, as the final match of the tournament earlier that year was declared a no contest due to an accidental headbutt. Emelianenko this time chose not to engage Nogueira on the ground, in spite of having dominated him on the ground in their first match. He overpowered the Brazilian on the feet in the first round, beating him to the punch for the first nine minutes. Nogueira faced great difficulty, getting dropped with punches and tossed to the mat multiple times by Judo throws. He was not able to implement his game plan of putting Emelianenko on his back, save for the final 30 seconds of the first round. He was not able to pull guard for any considerable amount of time. During the second and third rounds, Emelianenko's takedown defense and counter-punching earned him a unanimous decision victory to retain the heavyweight championship.

Title defense against Mirko Filipović

The following year, Emelianenko signed to fight PRIDE's top heavyweight contender, and former K-1 star Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović. This was a highly anticipated match. After Mirko had made a successful switch from K-1 to MMA, he quickly rose in the rankings with victories over Igor Vovchachyn, Kazuyuki Fujita, and a KO win over Emelianenko's younger brother, Alexander Emelianenko. He then made a public challenge to Emelianenko and the bout was supposed to take place in late 2003. After a contract dispute, Emelianenko temporarily left PRIDE to fight for Inoki's Boom Ba Ye promotion, on New Year's eve 2003. This prompted PRIDE to set up an Interim Heavyweight Title Match between Crocop and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. After completely dominating the first round, Crocop was caught in an armbar early in the second round, thus making Nogueira the Interim champion, and number-one challenger for Emelianenko's belt. Mirko got further de-railed from title contention, when in the first round of PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix 2004, he was upset by Kevin Randleman, getting knocked out early by ground strikes following a vicious left hook.

Later that year, Mirko began his recovery by defeating Ron Waterman, winning his rematch with Kevin Randleman by submission, and scoring a dominant TKO victory over Mark Coleman in the first round. Those wins put Mirko Filipović again in the spot of number-one heavyweight contender, following Fedor's successful title defense against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on PRIDE's New Year's Eve show in 2004.

The match between Emelianenko and Mirko Filipović finally took place at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005. In the first round, Emelianenko was stunned and had his nose broken by two stiff jabs from Filipović. He got hit by body kicks that discolored his midsection. Emelianenko was then able to get the fight to the ground and land several body shots, which took a lot of gas out of Filipović. As the fight progressed, Emelianenko became more and more dominant, winning most of the stand up exchanges and scoring several takedowns. After 20 minutes, Emelianenko was awarded a unanimous decision victory.

Later PRIDE Years

Following his successful title defense against Mirko Filipović at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005, Emelianenko came back on New Year's eve, where he outclassed the 450-pound Brazilian Zuluzinho in a non-title bout. Emelianenko dropped Zulu with a right hook and finished with several ground strikes which forced him to tap out after only 26 seconds.

Although originally endangered due to Emelianenko's recurring hand injury, a plate inserted in his hand green-lighted a rematch with American Mark Coleman in Pride's American debut show, Pride 32. In a fight where Coleman was unable to mount any significant offense, Emelianenko blasted Coleman in the first round with punches, before securing an armbar at 1:15 in the second round. Emelianenko's last defense of his Pride Heavyweight title was against 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix champion Mark Hunt at Shockwave 2006. Josh Barnett was originally slated to fight Emelianenko for the Heavyweight title, but turned down the fight, claiming not to be in peak physical condition. With Filipović's departure to the UFC organization in late 2006, Mark Hunt became the number-one contender for the belt. Sporting a broken toe during the contest, Emelianenko nevertheless secured an armbar in the second minute of the first round, but Hunt was able to escape and counter by stepping over Emelianenko, ending in side control. At five minutes into the first round, Hunt made two attempts at an americana on Emelianenko's left arm but failed to complete them. Emelianenko got back to his feet, and after struggling to take the fight to the ground, he submitted Hunt with a kimura at 8:16 in the first round.

BodogFight

With a special clause in his Pride contract that allowed him to fight under the banner of any mixed martial arts organization as long as the event was held on Russian soil, Emelianenko accepted a match in BodogFight against Matt Lindland. The fight was held on April 14, 2007 at the "Clash of the Nations" event in St. Petersburg, Russia. Lindland moved up two weight classes (from middleweight to heavyweight) for the match and came in weighing 212.5 lb (96.5 kg) to Emelianenko's 230 lb (104.5 kg).

Early in the fight, Lindland opened a cut above Emelianenko's left eye and clinched with him, pushing him into the corner and working for a takedown. At this point, the referee warned Emelianenko against grabbing the ropes and Emelianenko corrected himself. After a few seconds of working in the clinch, Lindland attempted a bodylock takedown. When Lindland lifted Emelianenko from his feet, Emelianenko reversed the takedown, landing in Lindland's half guard. The fight then remained on the ground where Emelianenko won by submission via armbar at 2:58 of the first round.

M-1 Global

After the purchase of Pride Fighting Championships by Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta III and the expiration of Emelianenko's contract with Pride, there was speculation about the possibility of him fighting in the UFC, especially since a public falling out between Bodog's Calvin Ayre and Emelianenko's manager, Vadim Finkelstein. In a June 2007 interview with the ''Baltimore Sun'', Chuck Liddell suggested that Emelianenko was on his way to the UFC. Dana White has expressed interest in signing Emelianenko, but considers his management team to be the primary barrier left to the signing of a contract, whereas Finkelstein has cited difficult negotiations as the reason. A main point of contention between the two is Finkelstein's request for the UFC to work with his Russian M-1 promotion, extending contractual offers to other members of the Red Devil Sport Club, and permitting Emelianenko to compete in combat sambo tournaments. At UFC 76 however, UFC president Dana White stated that he expected Emelianenko to sign with the UFC in late 2007 or early 2008, after Emelianenko was to compete in a Sambo competition that White would not allow him to participate in if he were under a UFC contract. He revealed his intent to set up a unification bout with UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture as his first UFC fight. Nevertheless, these negotiations broke down, as Emelianenko committed to a non-exclusive, two-year and six-fight deal with M-1 Global in October 2007.

Yarennoka

Monte Cox, the president and CEO of M-1 Global, confirmed Emelianenko would face South Korean kickboxer Hong-Man Choi in a New Year's Eve event, Yarennoka!, taking place in Japan and organized by former Pride staff with support from M-1 Global, FEG, and DEEP. A special rule was used for this fight to not allow any knee strikes on the ground. The fight was broadcast live in the United States on the HDNet cable network. Emelianenko defeated Choi in the opening round by submission via an armbar.

Dream

On February 13, 2008, Emelianenko attended a press conference held by Dream, a newly formed Japanese mixed martial arts promotion. His manager, Vadim Finkelstein, confirmed that the organization had a tightly knit alliance with M-1 Global and that Emelianenko would be fighting on the new organization's fight cards. M-1 Global CEO Vadim Finkelstein recently revealed of their plans to organize a fight for Fedor in co-operation with Dream, possibly on New Year's Eve in Japan.

Affliction

On July 19, 2008, at ''Affliction: Banned'', Emelianenko faced elite competition in former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, who at the time was widely regarded as a top-five heavyweight in mixed martial arts. Sylvia was coming off a title fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, in which he fought against number-two ranked heavyweight Sylvia was ranked as the #4 heavyweight fighter in MMA by ''Sherdog.com'' prior to his fight with Emelianenko. Sylvia said in the post-fight press conference, Affliction commentator and senior Fox Sports writer Jay Glazer sung Fedor's praises after the fight; "You want to know why he's the greatest fighter on the planet today? That is why! Tim Sylvia is shaking his head in disbelief! That, folks, is the Michael Jordan, the Tiger Woods, the Rocky Marciano of our sport!"

UFC President Dana White, who had been relentless in his criticism of Emelianenko, admitted to being impressed with Emelianenko's performance against the ex-UFC champion Sylvia. When asked if the submission win changed his opinion on Fedor, White said; "It does. Tim Sylvia was a real opponent."

After the fight, UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture entered the ring and Emelianenko expressed his desire to fight Couture next. However, Couture's contract with the UFC prevented the fight from occurring outside of the organization.

On January 24, 2009, at ''Affliction: Day of Reckoning'', Emelianenko defended his WAMMA championship against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski, who, like Sylvia, was widely considered to be a top-5 heavyweight at the time of the fight. Arlovski was on a five fight win streak and was ranked as high as the #2 heavyweight fighter in MMA by Sherdog.com. Arlovski had some early success in the fight, landing punches and leg kicks. However, as Emelianenko was backed into the ropes, Arlovski attempted a flying knee and Emelianenko was able to counter with an overhand right which resulted in a brutal knockout of Arlovski at 3:14 of the first round. The knockout victory was awarded knockout of the year for 2009 by ''Sherdog''. With the win, Emelianenko defended his title and defeated his second straight top-5 heavyweight opponent.

Emelianenko met WAMMA lightweight champion Shinya Aoki during a five-minute "special exhibition" at an April 29 M-1 Challenge (presented by Affliction) event in Tokyo. Emelianenko made Aoki tap out from a Achilles lock just before the bell sounded to end the exhibition. In another special exhibition match, Emelianenko met Gegard Mousasi, a friend and teammate, during M-1 Global: Breakthrough, held in Kansas City on August 28. The two friends fought a competitive and friendly spirited exhibition with several Judo throws from both Emelianenko and Mousasi. Emelianenko finished the fight via armbar.

Emelianenko was scheduled to defend his WAMMA Heavyweight title against former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett on August 1, 2009, at Affliction: Trilogy, but on July 22 Barnett was denied his license to compete by the California State Athletic Commission after testing positive for anabolic steroids. On July 23, 2009, Vitor Belfort – who was already on the card – was reported as a likely replacement, but the next day Affliction canceled the event citing limited time to find a suitable replacement and inadequate time to promote the fight.

Negotiations with the UFC

After the collapse of Affliction, UFC President Dana White ferociously tried to sign Emelianenko to an exclusive contract with the UFC several times. White said of Emelianenko; "He has become my obsession. I want it (him in the UFC) worse than the fans want it." Widely considered to be the best heavyweight MMA fighter at the time, Emelianenko would receive an immediate title shot against then current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, a fight which White deemed would be "huge". After reportedly offering Emelianenko a large contract worth just under 2 million US dollars per fight, with incentive to make much more based on pay per view buys for fights he headlines, negotiations fell apart after Emelianenko's management team demanded a co-promotion between the UFC and M-1 Global, terms which White deemed unacceptable.

Strikeforce

Following Affliction's collapse, Emelianenko signed a three-fight contract with Strikeforce. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker confirmed that Emelianenko's debut would take place on November 7, broadcast nationally on CBS.

Emelianenko's first fight in Strikeforce was against the then-undefeated Brett Rogers in the main event of Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers on November 7, 2009. Rogers was coming off a knockout win over Andrei Arlovski and was ranked as the #6 heavyweight fighter in MMA by ''Sherdog.com'' at the time of the fight. In the fight, Emelianenko landed early in the first round, but he failed to secure a submission after two attempts. In the second round he knocked Rogers down with an overhand right, then punched him three more times on the mat to secure the victory via TKO at 1:48. This bout would mark the first time Emelianenko competed in a cage. With the win, Emelianenko defeated his third straight top-10 heavyweight opponent.

Emelianenko suffered his first loss in 10 years on June 26, 2010 against Fabricio Werdum. After knocking Werdum down only seconds into the first round, Emelianenko closed in, but Werdum secured a deep triangle and an armbar from his guard, and Fedor was forced to tap. The loss was considered a large upset; in the process, Werdum became the first MMA fighter to attain a non-controversial victory over Emelianenko. After the fight, Emelianenko said the following:

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Following their fight, Werdum praised Emelianenko, declaring him "the best in the world" and his idol. M-1 Global boss Vadim Finkelstein declared that a rematch against Fabricio Werdum was Fedor's main priority, eyeing a possible October–November date. However, it was later reported that Werdum would be out for the rest of 2010 while recovering from elbow surgery.

Emelianenko stated through a translator on ''The MMA Hour'' with Ariel Helwani that he considered retirement before the Werdum fight due to accumulating injuries and ageing.

Emelianenko had expressed interest in fighting Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem before the end of 2010. In January 2011, it was announced that Fedor had agreed to enter the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix, and would face Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva on February 12 in the first quarterfinal match. After a close first round, Silva took control in round 2. After passing to mount, he unleashed a barrage of ground-and-pound that ultimately caused Emelianenko's right eye to swell shut. Ringside doctors called a stop to the fight, stating that Emelianenko could not see and they would not allow him to continue.

After the fight, Emelianenko implied that he may retire. "Yes, maybe, it's the last time. Maybe it's high time. Thanks for everything. I spent a great beautiful long sport life. Maybe it's God's will."

At the post-fight press conference, Vadim Finkelstein stated that he didn't feel Fedor would retire yet. "I think Fedor was just really upset that he lost the fight... I don’t think it was a clear-cut loss. If it doesn’t get stopped by the doctor, we don’t know what would have happened in that third round. Because of that I think we will see Fedor return." Finkelstein added that he would honor whatever decision his fighter chose. Upon returning to Russia, Emelianenko stated that he planned to continue fighting.

Emelianenko faced Dan Henderson on July 30, 2011 at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson. At the event, Emelianenko was defeated with a technical knockout stoppage. Henderson delivered a punch underneath Emelianenko's armpit which landed flush on Emelianenko's chin and knocked him face first into the mat. Emelianenko's body went limp prompting referee Herb Dean to immediately stop the fight. However, as Dean separated the fighters, Emelianenko rolled to his back to recover guard, stirring a debate among some fans as to whether the stoppage was premature. Emelianenko expressed that although he was hit, the strike did not land flush, and that he could have certainly continued. Dean defended his decision after reviewing the tape, saying, "The fight is over when he's unconscious. Because he comes back swiftly after I've already stepped in and stopped the fight, I can't restart the fight. Dan's still throwing punches, but once I've touched Dan, I've stopped the fight. If I was to do it again – if I see a fighter face down receiving shots, I'm going to step in and stop the fight. I can't predict how long he's going to be unconscious for." When asked about retirement, Emelianenko stated that it is not up to him, as he said, "It's God’s will.".

Following his third loss in a row, Emelianenko was reportedly released from Strikeforce. UFC president Dana White stated he was being released, “Yeah, he’s being cut.” However, Emelianenko disputed White's claims, saying; "That's Dana White's style to make comments. I didn't have a contract with Strikeforce. My current contract is with Showtime. So I think people shouldn't pay attention to these "loud" comments." According to M-1 Global Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan, Fedor was only under contract to Showtime and from there he fought under the Strikeforce banner, but was never under direct employ of Zuffa, and therefore was not "cut" by the organization. "Strikeforce is not the only MMA promotion on Showtime so there are a number of options for Fedor which will be looked at," Kogan told ''MMA Weekly''.

Championships and accomplishments

Fighting Network RINGS

RINGS Openweight Championship (1 Time, Last)

*2002 RINGS Absolute Class Tournament Winner

PRIDE Fighting Championships

*PRIDE World Heavyweight Championship (One time; Last)

*PRIDE 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion

World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts

*WAMMA World Heavyweight Championship (One time; First; Last)

Black Belt Magazine

2004 NHB Fighter of the Year

Sherdog

2009 Knockout of the Year vs Andrei Arlovski

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*2005 Most Outstanding Fighter

Mixed martial arts record

| Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 31–4 (1) | Dan Henderson | TKO (punches) | Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4:12 | Hoffman Estates, Illinois, U.S. | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 31–3 (1) | Antonio Silva | TKO (doctor stoppage) | Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva | | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:00 | East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. | Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 31–2 (1) | Fabricio Werdum | Submission (triangle/armbar) | Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Werdum | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:09 | San Jose, California, U.S. | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 31–1 (1) | Brett Rogers | TKO (punches) | Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers | | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:48 | Hoffman Estates, Illinois, U.S. | Defended WAMMA Heavyweight Championship |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 30–1 (1) | Andrei Arlovski | KO (punch) | Affliction: Day of Reckoning | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 3:14 | Anaheim, California, U.S. | Defended WAMMA Heavyweight Championship |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 29–1 (1) | Tim Sylvia | Submission (rear naked choke) | Affliction: Banned | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 0:36 | Anaheim, California, U.S. | Won inaugural WAMMA Heavyweight Championship |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 28–1 (1) | Hong-Man Choi | Submission (armbar) | Yarennoka! | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:54 | Saitama, Saitama | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 27–1 (1) | Matt Lindland | Submission (armbar) | BodogFIGHT: Clash of the Nations | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:58 | St. Petersburg, Russia | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 26–1 (1) | Mark Hunt | Submission (kimura) | Pride Shockwave 2006 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 8:16 | Saitama, Saitama | Defended Pride Heavyweight Championship |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 25–1 (1) | Mark Coleman | Submission (armbar) | Pride 32 | | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:17 | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 24–1 (1) | Wagner Martins | Submission (strikes) | Pride Shockwave 2005 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 0:26 | Saitama, Saitama | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 23–1 (1) | Mirko Filipović | Decision (unanimous) | Pride Final Conflict 2005 | | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:00 | Saitama, Saitama | Defended Pride Heavyweight Championship |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 22–1 (1) | Tsuyoshi Kohsaka | TKO (doctor stoppage) | Pride Bushido 6 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 10:00 | Yokohama, Kanagawa | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 21–1 (1) | Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira | Decision (unanimous) | Pride Shockwave 2004 | | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:00 | Saitama, Saitama | Unified Pride Interim Heavyweight Championship; Won 2004 Pride Heavyweight Grand Prix |- | No Contest | style="text-align:center;"| 20–1 (1) | Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira | NC (accidental headbutt) | Pride Final Conflict 2004 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 3:52 | Saitama, Saitama | Pride 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Final |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 20–1 | Naoya Ogawa | Submission (armbar) | Pride Final Conflict 2004 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 0:54 | Saitama, Saitama | Pride 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Semifinal |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 19–1 | Kevin Randleman | Submission (kimura) | Pride Critical Countdown 2004 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:33 | Saitama, Saitama | Pride 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 18–1 | Mark Coleman | Submission (armbar) | Pride Total Elimination 2004 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:11 | Saitama, Saitama | Pride 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix Opening Round |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 17–1 | Yuji Nagata | TKO (strikes) | Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:02 | Kobe, Hyōgo | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 16–1 | Gary Goodridge | TKO (soccer kicks and punches) | Pride Total Elimination 2003 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:09 | Saitama, Saitama | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 15–1 | Kazuyuki Fujita | Submission (rear naked choke) | Pride 26 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4:17 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 14–1 | Egidijus Valavicius | Submission (kimura) | Rings Bushido Rings 7: Adrenalinas | | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:11 | Vilnius, Lithuania | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 13–1 | Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira | Decision (unanimous) | Pride 25 | | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:00 | Yokohama, Kanagawa | Won Pride Heavyweight Championship |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 12–1 | Heath Herring | TKO (doctor stoppage) | Pride 23 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 10:00 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 11–1 | Semmy Schilt | Decision (unanimous) | Pride 21 | | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:00 | Saitama, Saitama | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 10–1 | Chris Haseman | TKO (strikes) | Rings: World Title Series Grand Final | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:50 | Yokohama|Yokohama, Kanagawa | Rings Absolute Class Tournament Final; Won Rings Absolute Class Tournament |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 9–1 | Lee Hasdell | Submission (guillotine choke) | Rings: World Title Series 5 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 4:10 | Yokohama|Yokohama, Kanagawa | Rings Absolute Class Tournament Semifinal |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 8–1 | Ryushi Yanagisawa | Decision (unanimous) | Rings: World Title Series 4 | | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | Rings Absolute Class Tournament Quarterfinal |- | | style="text-align:center;"| | Bobby Hoffman | Forfeit | Rings: 10th Anniversary | | style="text-align:center;"| | style="text-align:center;"| | Tokyo, Japan | Rings Open-Weight Class Tournament Final, Won Rings Open-weight Championship |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 7–1 | Renato Sobral | Decision (unanimous) | Rings: 10th Anniversary | | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:00 | Tokyo, Japan | Rings Open-Weight Class Tournament Semifinal |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 6–1 | Kerry Schall | Submission (armbar) | Rings: World Title Series 1 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:47 | Tokyo, Japan | Rings Open-Weight Class Tournament Quarterfinal |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 5–1 | Mihail Apostolov | Submission (rear naked choke) | Rings Russia: Russia vs. Bulgaria | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 1:03 | Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast | |- | Loss | style="text-align:center;"| 4–1 | Tsuyoshi Kohsaka | TKO (doctor stoppage) | Rings: King of Kings 2000 Block B | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 0:17 | Osaka, Kansai | Rings King of Kings 2000 Tournament 2nd Round; Inadvertent illegal elbow strike reopened existing cut. |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 4–0 | Ricardo Arona | Decision (unanimous) | Rings: King of Kings 2000 Block B | | style="text-align:center;"| 3 | style="text-align:center;"| 5:00 | Osaka|Osaka, Kansai | Rings King of Kings 2000 Tournament Opening Round |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 3–0 | Hiroya Takada | KO (punch) | Rings: Battle Genesis Vol. 6 | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 0:12 | Tokyo, Japan | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 2–0 | Levon Lagvilava | Submission (rear naked choke) | Rings: Russia vs. Georgia | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 7:24 | Tula, Tula Oblast | |- | Win | style="text-align:center;"| 1–0 | Martin Lazarov | Submission (guillotine choke) | Rings: Russia vs. Bulgaria | | style="text-align:center;"| 1 | style="text-align:center;"| 2:24 | Ekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast |

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts

! style="width:75px;"

Status !! style="width:150px;"|Date !! style="width:225px;"|Championship !! style="width:100px;"|Weight !! style="width:200px;"|Location
				Anaheim, California
				Yokohama, Japan
		PRIDE World Grand Prix		Saitama, Japan
		RINGS Absolute Class Tournament		Yokohama, Japan
		RINGS Heavyweight Class Tournament		Tokyo, Japan

Judo

! style="width:75px;"

Status !! style="width:150px;"|Date !! style="width:225px;"|Championship !! style="width:100px;"|Weight !! style="width:200px;"|Location
		Dutch Grand Prix		Rotterdam, Netherlands
		Russian National Championships		Kstovo, Russia
		Sofia Liberation A-Team		Sofia, Bulgaria
		Moscow International Tournament		Moscow, Russia
		Russian National Championships		Kstovo, Russia

Sambo

! style="width:75px;"

Status !! style="width:75px;"|Date !! style="width:300px;"|Championship !! style="width:100px;"|Weight !! style="width:200px;"|Location
		Russian Combat Sambo Championships		Krasnokamsk, Russia
		Russian Combat Sambo Championships		Kstovo, Russia
		World Combat Sambo Championships		Prague, Czech Republic
		Russian Combat Sambo Championships		St. Petersburg, Russia
		World Combat Sambo Championships		Prague, Czech Republic
		Russian Combat Sambo Championships
		Russian Combat Sambo Championships		Buryat Republic, Russia
		World Combat Sambo Championships		Prague, Czech Republic
		World Combat Sambo Championships		Panama City, Panama
		World Combat Sambo Championships		Thessaloniki, Greece
		Russian Combat Sambo Championships		Moscow, Russia
		Russian Combat Sambo Championships		Orenburg, Russia
		Russian Armed Forces Combat Sambo Championships		Russia
		Russian Armed Forces Combat Sambo Championships		Russia
		Russian Combat Sambo Championships		Kaliningrad, Russia
		European Combat Sambo Championships
		Russian Combat Sambo Championships		St. Petersburg, Russia

See also

List of male mixed martial artists

List of Pride champions

References

External links

Fedor Emelianenko "The Last Emperor" Official Website: news, fights, videos, photos.

The Official Site of Fedor Emelianenko

Category:Living people Category:1976 births Category:Russian mixed martial artists Category:Heavyweight mixed martial artists Category:Russian judoka Category:Russian sambo practitioners Category:Pride Fighting Championships champions Category:People from Belgorod Oblast Category:People from Luhansk Oblast Category:Russian Orthodox Christians

af:Fedor Emelianenko be-x-old:Фёдар Емяльяненка bg:Фьодор Емеляненко ca:Fedor Emelianenko da:Fedor Emelianenko de:Fjodor Wladimirowitsch Jemeljanenko dv:Fedor Emelianenko et:Fjodor Jemeljanenko es:Fiódor Yemelianenko fr:Fedor Emelianenko ko:표도르 에멜리아넨코 hi:Fedor Emelianenko hr:Fjodor Emelianenko is:Fedor Emelianenko it:Fëdor Vladimirovič Emel'janenko lmo:Fëdor Vladimirovič Emel'janenko hu:Fjodor Vlagyimirovics Jemeljanyenko nl:Fjodor Jemeljanenko ja:エメリヤーエンコ・ヒョードル no:Fjodor Jemeljanenko pl:Fiodor Jemieljanienko pt:Fiódor Emelianenko ru:Емельяненко, Фёдор Владимирович stq:Fjodor Wladimirowitsch Jemeljanenko simple:Fedor Emelianenko sr:Фјодор Јемељјаненко sh:Fjodor Jemeljanenko fi:Fjodor Jemeljanenko sv:Fjodor Jemeljanenko tr:Fedor Emelianenko uk:Ємельяненко Федір Володимирович yi:פיאדאר יעמעליאנענקא zh:菲德·埃密利亞恩寇

Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
playername	Luís Figo
fullname	Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo
dateofbirth	November 04, 1972
cityofbirth	Almada
countryofbirth	Portugal
height
position	Attacking midfielder/Winger
youthyears2	1984–1989
youthclubs1	União de Pastilhas
youthclubs2	Sporting CP
years1	1989–1995
years2	1995–2000
years3	2000–2005
years4	2005–2009
clubs1	Sporting CP
clubs2	Barcelona
clubs3	Real Madrid
clubs4	Internazionale
caps1	137
goals1	16
caps2	172
goals2	30
caps3	165
goals3	36
caps4	105
goals4	9
totalcaps	579
totalgoals	91
nationalyears1	1991–2006
nationalteam1	Portugal
nationalcaps1	127
nationalgoals1	32 }}

Luís Filipe Madeira Caeiro Figo, OIH, (born 4 November 1972) is a Portuguese former international footballer. He played as a midfielder for Sporting CP, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale, during a career which spanned over a period of 20 years. He retired from football on 31 May 2009. He won 127 caps for the Portuguese national football team, a number that makes him the most capped Portuguese player in history.

Figo was the 2000 European Footballer of the Year, the 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and was named amongst the FIFA 100.

Figo is one of the few football players to have played for both the Spanish rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. He had a successful career highlighted by several trophy wins, such as one Portuguese Cup, four La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, three Spanish Super Cups, one UEFA Champions League title, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, four Serie A titles, one Italian Cup and three Italian Super Cups.

Club career

Sporting CP

Figo started his career at Sporting CP. He won his first senior international cap in 1991. Prior to that, he won the Under-21 World Championships and Under-16 European Championships with Portugal junior sides, alongside Rui Costa, João Pinto and he was also a significant part of Portugal's "Golden Generation".

FC Barcelona

In 1995, Figo looked poised to join one of the big clubs of Europe, but a dispute between Italian clubs Juventus and Parma, with Figo having signed contracts with both clubs, resulted in an Italian two-year transfer ban on Figo, effectively stopping any moves to Italy. However, the situation was eventually resolved for Figo, with a move to Spanish club FC Barcelona for a £2.25 million fee, under Dutch coach Johan Cruyff.

It was with Barcelona from 1995 that his career really took off: Figo won a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996–97, successive Primera División titles and went on to appear 172 times for Barcelona, scoring 30 goals.

Real Madrid

In 2000, Figo made a hugely controversial move to Barcelona's bitter rivals Real Madrid. Many Barcelona fans felt betrayed by his transfer and turned against him, despite Figo having many years of success with Barcelona and having been a fan favourite for over five years. When he returned three seasons later in a league match (2002), he got a heated reception from the crowd and many started throwing objects at him as he took corners and throw-ins, including a pig's head.

Figo's arrival signaled the beginning of Florentino Pérez's "Galáctico era". With Madrid Figo won La Liga in 2001 and 2003 as well as the 2001-02 Champions League.

Internazionale

Figo left Real Madrid to join Internazionale in the summer of 2005 on a free transfer after his contract with Real Madrid had expired. This meant that Figo would finally be able to play for a club in Italy, something he had the chance to do before his move to Barcelona, but was scuppered due to a dispute between the two clubs interested, Juventus and Parma. During the summer of 2008, Figo's compatriot José Mourinho joined Inter on a managerial level. This has been said to please Figo, as he would have several Portuguese teammates during the remainder of his stay at Inter. On 16 May 2009, Figo announced his retirement from football, the same day Internazionale won the 2008–09 title, and re-confirmed this on 30 May; his final game was on 31 May against Atalanta at the San Siro. At Javier Zanetti's insistence, Figo captained the side for his very last match. He received a standing ovation from the crowd as he was substituted by Davide Santon. The freekick he scored in extra time against Roma during the Supercoppa Italiana was undisputedly his most memorable part of his time in Italy.

Figo said, "I am leaving football, not Inter." He was interviewed by Inter Channel after his last game against Atalanta and also said, "I hope to be able to help this club to become even greater also after my retirement. I will certainly work for Inter in the future in the club board. I never imagined that I was going to remain here for such a long time. What I will never forget is the love that I have received since my first day here from my teammates and president Massimo Moratti. I will never forget it; Inter have given me the chance to start a winning cycle with some extraordinary people." Luis Figo was on the sidelines when Internazionale Milano won the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League on 22 May 2010.

International career

The leader of Portugal's "Golden Generation," Figo won a FIFA World Youth Championship in 1991, the same year he made his senior debut against Luxembourg on 16 October 1991, in a friendly match that ended 1–1 when he was only 18 years old. He has performed at the highest level ever since, making appearances at Euro 1996, Euro 2000, Euro 2004 and the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. He announced his retirement from international football following the Euro 2004 final upset-defeat by Greece. It was believed because there was a rift between him and national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari although this was denied. However, in June 2005, he reversed his decision and returned for the 2006 World Cup qualifying wins against Slovakia and Estonia under Scolari.

Figo captained the squad during the 2006 World Cup, leading the team to the semi-finals, where they were beaten by France courtesy of a penalty from his former club-mate and French captain Zinedine Zidane. This was Portugal's best finish in 40 years. The third place playoff caused some controversy as Figo did not start; Pauleta captained the team in his place. However, Portugal fell behind 2–0 to hosts Germany and Figo replaced Pauleta in the 77th minute, who handed him back the captain's armband, to cheers from both Portuguese and German fans. Although Germany scored another goal shortly after Figo's entrance, he ended his final cap for his country on a high note by setting up Nuno Gomes to head in an 88th minute consolation goal. Despite having no trophies to show for the "Golden Generation," Figo managed to captain the team to their best World Cup performance since the Eusébio era in 1966. He finished his international career with 127 caps and scoring 32 goals.

Personal life

Figo is married to Swedish model Helen Svedin. They met at a ''flamenco'' show and are now married with three daughters – Daniela (born in March 1999), Martina (born in April 2002), and Stella (born 9 December 2004). Along with his countryman, former Portugal national team manager and former youth team coach Carlos Queirós, Figo was briefly joint seat holder for A1 Team Portugal, in A1 Grand Prix, during the 2005–06 season. He now owns an upscale bar in the Algarve region of Portugal. It has been rumoured that he will come out of retirement to play a short guest stint with Australian A-League club Sydney FC. He has expressed interest in playing in the A-League shortly before retirement.

Figo is an ambassador for the Stop TB Partnership in the fight against tuberculosis. He works closely with Internazionale, serving as an ambassador for the club at functions across Europe. He is also a board member of the Inter Campus charity project run by Inter Milan.

Career statistics

0 0 1 0 8 7 5 4 5 7 9 9 7 10 9 3 5 2 1 1137

Club	League	Season	League	Cup	!colspan="2"	Total
!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
rowspan="7" valign="center"	Sporting CP			3	|	—		—		3	0
1990–91 Primeira Liga	1990–91	3	|	—		—		3	0
1991–92 Primeira Liga	1991–92	34	|	7	0	2	0	43	1
1992–93 Primeira Liga	1992–93	32	|	8	1	2	0	42	1
1993–94 Primeira Liga	1993–94	31	|	1	0	3	0	35	8
1994–95 Primeira Liga	1994–95	34	|	7	3	2	0	43	10
!Total	!137!!16!!23!!4!!9!!0!!169!!20
rowspan="6" valign="center"	Barcelona			35	|	8	1	10	3	53	9
1996–97 La Liga	1996–97	36	|	9	2	8	1	53	7
1997–98 La Liga	1997–98	35	|	4	0	7	1	46	6
1998–99 La Liga	1998–99	34	|	10	1	6	1	50	9
1999–2000 La Liga	1999–2000	32	|	2	0	13	5	47	14
!Total	!172!!30!!33!!4!!44!!11!!249!!45
rowspan="6" valign="center"	Real Madrid			34	|	1	0	14	5	49	14
2001–02 La Liga	2001–02	28	|	6	1	10	3	44	11
2002–03 La Liga	2002–03	32	|	1	0	15	2	48	12
2003–04 La Liga	2003–04	36	|	8	3	11	1	55	13
2004–05 La Liga	2004–05	33	|	0	0	10	4	43	7
!Total	!163!!38!!16!!4!!60!!15!!239!!57
rowspan="5" valign="center"	Internazionale			34	|	2	0	8	1	45	6
2006–07 Serie A	2006–07	32	|	7	1	7	0	47	3
2007–08 Serie A	2007–08	17	|	2	0	3	0	21	1
2008–09 Serie A	2008–09	22	|	—		3	0	17	1
!Total	!105!!9!!11!!1!!21!!1!!132!!11
|	16	23	4	9	0	169	20	335	68	49	8	104	26	488	102	105	9	11	1	21	1	132	11	577	93	83	13	134	27	789	133

|- |1991||3||0 |- |1992||7||1 |- |1993||5||0 |- |1994||5||2 |- |1995||6||1 |- |1996||9||2 |- |1997||7||2 |- |1998||6||0 |- |1999||9||4 |- |2000||13||6 |- |2001||9||9 |- |2002||10||0 |- |2003||10||3 |- |2004||11||1 |- |2005||7||0 |- |2006||10||1 |- !Total||127||32 |}

{{Ig match | n=1 | d1=11 November 1992 | st=Stade de Paris| ci=Paris| co=France | o=Bulgaria | sc=1–1 | fr=2–1 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=2 | d1=9 October 1994 | st=Daugava Stadium| ci=Riga| co=Latvia | o=Latvia | sc=0–3 | fr=1–3 | comp=Euro 1996 qualifying}} {{Ig match | n=3 | d1=13 November 1994 | st=Estádio José Alvalade (1956)| ci=Lisbon| co=Portugal | o=Austria | sc=1–0 | fr=1–0 | comp=Euro 1996 qualifying}} {{Ig match | n=4 | d1=3 June 1995 | st=Estádio das Antas| ci=Porto| co=Portugal | o=Latvia | sc=1–0 | fr=3–2 | comp=Euro 1996 qualifying}} {{Ig match | n=5 | d1=19 June 1996 | st=City Ground| ci=Nottingham| co=England | o=Croatia | sc=0–1 | fr=0–3 | comp=Euro 1996 Group Stage}} {{Ig match | n=6 | d1=9 October 1996 | st=Qemal Stafa Stadium| ci=Tirana| co=Albania | o=Albania | sc=0–1 | fr=0–3 | comp=1998 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match | n=7 | d1=7 June 1997 | st=Estádio das Antas| ci=Porto| co=Portugal | o=Albania | sc=2–0 | fr=2–0 | comp=1998 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match | n=8 | d1=20 August 1997 | st=Estádio do Bonfim| ci=Setúbal| co=Portugal | o=Armenia | sc=2–0 | fr=3–1 | comp=1998 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match | n=9 | d1=31 March 1999 | st=Sportpark Eschen-Mauren| ci=Eschen| co=Liechtenstein | o=Liechtenstein | sc=0–2 | fr=0–5 | comp=Euro 2000 qualifying}} {{Ig match | n=10 | d1=18 August 1999 | st=Estádio Nacional| ci=Lisbon| co=Portugal | o=Andorra | sc=3–0 | fr=4–0 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=11 | d1=4 September 1999 | st=Tofik Bahramov Stadium| ci=Baku| co=Azerbaijan | o=Azerbaijan | sc=1–1 | fr=1–1 | comp=Euro 2000 qualifying}} {{Ig match | n=12 | d1=8 September 1999 | st=Stadionul Steaua| ci=Bucharest| co=Romania | o=Romania | sc=1–1 | fr=1–1 | comp=Euro 2000 qualifying}} {{Ig match | n=13 | d1=29 March 2000 | st=Estádio Municipal de Leiria| ci=Leiria| co=Portugal | o=Denmark | sc=2–1 | fr=2–1 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=14 | d1=2 June 2000 | st=Estádio Municipal de Chaves| ci1=Chaves | co=Portugal | o=Wales | sc=1–0 | fr=3–0 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=15 | d1=12 June 2000 | st=Philips Stadion| ci=Eindhoven| co=Netherlands | o=England | sc=1–2 | fr=3–2 | comp=Euro 2000 Group Stage}} {{Ig match | n=16 | d1=16 August 2000 | st=Estádio do Fontelo| ci=Viseu| co=Portugal | o=Lithuania | sc=2–0 | fr=5–1 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=17 | d1=3 September 2000 | st=Kadrioru Stadium| ci=Tallinn| co=Estonia | o=Estonia | sc=0–2 | fr=1–3 | comp=2002 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match | n=18 | d1=15 November 2000 | st=Estádio Primeiro de Maio| ci=Braga| co=Portugal | o=Israel | sc=1–0 | fr=2–1 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=19 | d1=28 February 2001 | st=Estádio dos Barreiros| ci=Funchal| co=Portugal | o=Andorra | sc=1–0 | fr=3–0 | comp=2002 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match | n=20 | d1=28 February 2001 | st=Estádio dos Barreiros| ci=Funchal| co=Portugal | o=Andorra | sc=3–0 | fr=3–0 | comp=2002 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match | n=21 | d1=28 March 2001 | st=Estádio das Antas| ci=Porto| co=Portugal | o=Netherlands | sc=2–2 | fr=2–2 | comp=2002 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match | n=22 | d1=2 June 2001 | st=Lansdowne Road| ci=Dublin| co=Republic of Ireland | o=Republic of Ireland | sc=1–1 | fr=1–1 | comp=2002 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match | n=23 | d1=15 August 2001 | st=Estádio de São Luís| ci=Faro| co=Portugal | o=Moldova | sc=1–0 | fr=3–0 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=24 | d1=15 August 2001 | st=Estádio de São Luís| ci=Faro| co=Portugal | o=Moldova | sc=2–0 | fr=3–0 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=25 | d1=15 August 2001 | st=Estádio de São Luís| ci=Faro| co=Portugal | o=Moldova | sc=3–0 | fr=3–0 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=26 | d1=6 October 2001 | st=Estádio da Luz (1954)| ci=Lisbon| co=Portugal | o=Estonia | sc=5–0 | fr=5–0 | comp=2002 World Cup qualification}} {{Ig match | n=27 | d1=14 November 2001 | st=Estádio José Alvalade (1956)| ci=Lisbon| co=Portugal | o=Angola | sc=1–1 | fr=5–1 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=28 | d1=2 April 2003 | st=Stade Olympique de la Pontaise| ci=Lausanne| co=Switzerland | o=Macedonia | sc=1–0 | fr=1–0 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=29 | d1=11 October 2003 | st=Estádio do Restelo| ci=Lisbon| co=Portugal | o=Albania | sc=1–0 | fr=5–3 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=30 | d1=19 November 2003 | st=Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa| ci=Leiria| co=Portugal | o=Kuwait | sc=3–0 | fr=8–0 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=31 | d1=29 May 2004 | st=Estádio Municipal de Águeda| ci=Águeda| co=Portugal | o=Luxembourg | sc=1–0 | fr=3–0 | comp=Friendly}} {{Ig match | n=32 | d1=3 June 2006 | st=Stade Saint-Symphorien| ci=Metz| co=France | o=Luxembourg | sc=0–3 | fr=0–3 | comp=Friendly}}

Honours

Club

; Sporting CP

Taça de Portugal: 1

:: 1995

; Barcelona

La Liga: 2

:: 1997-98, 1998-99

Copa del Rey: 2

:: 1997, 1998

Supercopa de España: 1

:: 1996

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1

:: 1997

UEFA Super Cup: 1

:: 1997

; Real Madrid

La Liga: 2

:: 2000-01, 2002-03

Supercopa de España: 2

:: 2001, 2003

UEFA Champions League: 1

:: 2002

UEFA Super Cup: 1

:: 2002

Intercontinental Cup: 1

:: 2002

; Internazionale

Serie A: 4

:: 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09

Coppa Italia: 1

:: 2006

Supercoppa Italiana: 3

:: 2005, 2006, 2008

National team

; Portugal

FIFA U-20 World Cup: 1

:: 1991

UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship: 1

:: 1989

Individual

Ballon d'Or: 1

:: 2000

FIFA World Player of the Year: 1

:: 2001

World Soccer Player of the Year: 1

:: 2000

FIFA 100: 1

::

FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1

:: 2006

UEFA Euro All-Star Team: 2

:: 2000, 2004

UEFA Team of the Year: 1

:: 2003

La Liga Foreign Player of the Year: 3

:: 1999, 2000, 2001

Portuguese Footballer of the Year: 6

:: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000

Portuguese Golden Ball: 1

:: 1994

Orders

Medal of Merit, Order of the Immaculate Conception of Vila Viçosa (House of Braganza)

Notes and references

External links

FootballDatabase provides Luís Figo's profile and stats

Luís Figo PortuGOAL profile

Luís Figo's photo profile

Portuguesefutebol.com Your source for Portuguese football in English.

European Champions Cup/UEFA Champions League Winning Squads

Category:Portuguese footballers Category:Association football wingers Category:Portugal international footballers Category:FC Barcelona footballers Category:Real Madrid C.F. players Category:Sporting Clube de Portugal footballers Category:Primeira Liga players Category:La Liga footballers Category:Serie A footballers Category:F.C. Internazionale Milano players Category:Expatriate footballers in Spain Category:Expatriate footballers in Italy Category:Portuguese expatriates in Italy Category:European Footballer of the Year winners Category:FIFA World Player of the Year winners Category:FIFA 100 Category:FIFA Century Club Category:UEFA Euro 1996 players Category:UEFA Euro 2000 players Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players Category:2002 FIFA World Cup players Category:2006 FIFA World Cup players Category:Portuguese expatriate footballers Category:World Soccer Magazine World Player of the Year winners Category:1972 births Category:Living people Category:Golden Globes (Portugal) winners

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Coordinates	34°03′″N118°15′″N
Name	Manny Pacquiao
Realname	Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao
Nickname	Pac-Man,Fighting Pride of the Philippines,The Destroyer,The People's Champ,''Pambansang Kamao'' (National Fist),The Fighting Congressman
Weight	Light MiddleweightWelterweightLight WelterweightLightweightSuper FeatherweightFeatherweightSuper BantamweightFlyweight
Height
Reach
Nationality	Filipino
Birth date	December 17, 1978
Birth place	Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines
Style	Southpaw
Total	58
Wins	53
Ko	38
Losses	3
Draws	2 Official Site }}

The Honourable Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao, PLH ( ; ; born December 17, 1978), also known as Manny Pacquiao, is a Filipino professional boxer and politician. He is the first eight-division world champion; having won ten world titles, including the lineal championship in three different weight classes. He was named "Fighter of the Decade" for the 2000s by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). He is also a three-time ''The Ring'' and BWAA "Fighter of the Year", winning the award in 2006, 2008, and 2009.

Currently, Pacquiao is the WBO Welterweight World Champion (Super Champion). He is also currently rated as the "number one" pound-for-pound best boxer in the world by most sporting news and boxing websites, including ''The Ring'', BoxRec.com, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, NBC Sports, Yahoo! Sports, Sporting Life and About.com.

Aside from boxing, Pacquiao has participated in acting, music recording, and politics. In May 2010, Pacquiao was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress of the Philippines, representing the province of Sarangani.

Personal life

Pacquiao was born on December 17, 1978, in Kibawe, Bukidnon, Philippines. He is the son of Rosalio Pacquiao and Dionesia Dapidran-Pacquiao. His parents separated when he was in sixth grade, after his mother discovered that his father was living with another woman. He is the fourth among six siblings: Liza Silvestre-Onding and Domingo Silvestre (from first husband of his mother) and Isidra Pacquiao-Paglinawan, Alberto "Bobby" Pacquiao and Rogelio Pacquiao.

Pacquiao is married to Maria Geraldine "Jinkee" Jamora, and they have four children: Emmanuel Jr. "Jimuel", Michael, Princess, and Queen Elizabeth "Queenie". He resides in his hometown General Santos City, South Cotabato, Philippines. However, as a congressman of lone district of Sarangani, he is officially residing in Kiamba, Sarangani, the hometown of his wife.

Pacquiao is a devout Roman Catholic. Within the ring, he frequently makes the sign of the cross and every time he comes back from a successful fight abroad, he attends a thanksgiving Mass in Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila to kneel and pray.

Pacquiao is also a military reservist with the rank of Sergeant Major for the 15th Ready Reserve Division of the Philippine Army. When younger he had considered becoming a soldier, and was enlisted in the military reserve force as an Army Private.

Education

Pacquiao completed his elementary education at Saavedra Saway Elementary School in General Santos City, but dropped out of high school due to extreme poverty. He left his home at age 14 because his mother, who had six children, was not making enough money to support her family.

In February 2007 he took, and passed, a high school equivalency exam making him eligible for college education. He was awarded with a high school diploma by the Department of Education. Pacquiao enrolled for a college degree in business management at Notre Dame of Dadiangas University (NDDU) in his hometown in General Santos City.

On February 18, 2009, Pacquiao was conferred the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa) by Southwestern University (SWU) at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino in Lahug, Cebu City in recognition of his boxing achievements and humanitarian work.

In preparation for his career as a lawmaker in the House of Representatives, Pacquiao enrolled in the Certificate Course in Development, Legislation, and Governance at the Development Academy of the Philippines – Graduate School of Public and Development Management (DAP-GSPDM).

Amateur boxing career

At the age of 14, Pacquiao moved to Manila and lived, for a time, on the streets. He started boxing and made the Philippine national amateur boxing team where his room and board were paid for by the government. Pacquiao reportedly had an amateur record of 64 fights (60–4).

Professional boxing career

Light Flyweight

In 1995, the death of a young aspiring boxer and close friend Eugene Barutag spurred the young Pacquiao to pursue a professional boxing career. Pacquiao started his professional boxing career when he was just 16 years of age, stood at 4'11'', and weighed 98 pounds (7 pounds under the minimumweight division). He admitted before American media that he put weights in his pockets to make the 105-pound weight limit. His early light flyweight division fights took place in small local venues and were shown on Vintage Sports' ''Blow by Blow'', an evening boxing show. His professional debut was a four-round bout against Edmund "Enting" Ignacio, on January 22, 1995, which Pacquiao won via decision, becoming an instant star of the program.

Pacquiao's weight increased from 106 to 113 pounds before losing in his 12th bout against Rustico Torrecampo via a third-round knockout. Pacquiao failed to make the required weight, so he was forced to use heavier gloves than Torrecampo, thereby putting him at a disadvantage.

Flyweight division

Following the Torrecampo fight, Pacquiao continued undefeated for his next 15 fights. He went on another unbeaten run that saw him take on the vastly more experienced Chokchai Chockvivat in flyweight division. Pacquiao knocked out Chockvivat in the fifth round and took the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) Flyweight title. After one official defense and two non-title bouts, Pacquiao got his first opportunity to fight for a world title. Pacquiao captured the World Boxing Council (WBC) Flyweight World Title (his first major boxing world title) over Chatchai Sasakul by way of knockout in the eighth round. He defended the title successfully against Mexican Gabriel Mira via a fourth-round technical knockout. However, Pacquiao lost the title in his second defense against Medgoen Singsurat, also known as Medgoen 3K Battery, via a third-round knockout. The bout was held in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand. Singsurat got Pacquiao on the ropes and landed a flush straight right to the body coiling Pacquiao over and keeping him there. Technically, Pacquiao lost the belt at the scales, as he surpassed the weight limit of 112 pounds.

Super Bantamweight

Following his loss to Singsurat, Pacquiao gained weight and skipped the super flyweight and bantamweight divisions. This time, Pacquiao went to super bantamweight or junior featherweight division of 122 pounds, where he picked up the WBC Super Bantamweight International Title. He defended this title five times before his chance for a world title fight came. Pacquiao's big break came on June 23, 2001, against former IBF World Super Bantamweight champion Lehlohonolo Ledwaba. Pacquiao stepped into the fight as a late replacement on two weeks' notice but won the fight by technical knockout and won the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Junior Featherweight World Title belt, his second major boxing world title. The bout was held at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao went on to defend this title four times under head trainer Freddie Roach, owner of the famous Wild Card Gym in West Hollywood.

Featherweight

On November 15, 2003, Pacquiao faced Marco Antonio Barrera at the Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas, in a fight that many consider to have defined his career. Pacquiao, who was fighting at featherweight for the first time, brought his power with him and defeated Barrera via technical knockout in the eleventh round and won ''The Ring'' Featherweight World Title, making him the first Filipino and Asian to become a three-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in three different weight divisions. He defended the title twice before relinquishing it in 2005.

On November 24, 2003, the then Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo conferred on Pacquiao the Presidential Medal of Merit at the Ceremonial Hall of Malacañang Palace for his knockout victory over the best featherweight boxer of the world. The following day, the members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines presented the House Resolution No. 765, authored by the then House Speaker Jose De Venecia and Bukidnon Representative Juan Miguel Zubiri, which honored Pacquiao the Congressional Medal of Achievement for his exceptional achievements. Pacquiao is the first sportsman to receive such an honor from the House of Representatives.

Six months after the fight with Barrera, Pacquiao went on to challenge Juan Manuel Márquez, who at the time held both the World Boxing Association (WBA) and International Boxing Federation (IBF) Featherweight World Titles. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, on May 8, 2004, and after twelve rounds the bout was scored a draw, which proved to be a controversial decision that outraged both camps.

In the first round, Márquez was caught cold, as he was knocked down three times by Pacquiao. However, Márquez showed great heart to recover from the early knockdowns, and went on to win the majority of rounds thereafter. This was largely due to Márquez's counterpunch style, which he managed to effectively utilize against the aggressive style of Pacquiao. At the end of a very close fight, both boxers felt they had done enough to win the fight. The final scores were 115–110 for Márquez, 115–110 for Pacquiao, and 113–113. One of the judges (who scored the bout 113–113) later admitted to making an error on the scorecards, because he had scored the first round as "10–7" in favor of Pacquiao instead of the standard "10–6" for a three-knockdown round. If this judge had scored the round "10–6" for Pacquiao (as the other two judges did) the result would have been a split decision in favor of Pacquiao.

Super Featherweight

On March 19, 2005, Pacquiao moved up in super featherweight or junior lightweight division of 130 pounds, in order to fight another Mexican legend and three-division world champion Érik Morales for vacant WBC International and IBA Super Featherweight Titles. The fight took place at the MGM Grand Las Vegas. In this fight, Pacquiao sustained a cut over his right eye from a from an accidental clash of heads in the fifth round. He lost the twelve-round match by a unanimous decision from the judges. All three scorecards read 115–113 for Morales.

On September 10, 2005, Manny Pacquiao fought Héctor Velázquez at Staples Center in Los Angeles. He knocked Velázquez out in six rounds to capture the WBC Super Featherweight International Title, which he went on to defend five times. On the same day, his rival, Érik Morales, fought Zahir Raheem and lost via unanimous decision.

Despite Morales's loss to Raheem, Pacquiao got matched up against Morales in a rematch which took place on January 21, 2006 at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas. During the fight, Morales escaped being knocked down twice, once in the second round by holding onto the ropes, and once in the sixth by falling on the referee. Pacquiao eventually knocked Morales out in the tenth, the first time Morales was knocked out in his boxing career.

On July 2, 2006, Pacquiao defended his WBC Super Featherweight International Title against Óscar Larios, a two-time super bantamweight champion, who had moved up two weight divisions to fight Pacquiao. Pacquiao won the fight via unanimous decision, knocking down Larios two times in the 12-round bout at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines. The three judges scored the fight 117–110, 118–108, and 120–106 all for Pacquiao.

On July 3, 2006, the day after winning the fight against Larios, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo personally bestowed the Order of Lakandula with the rank of "Champion for Life" (''Kampeon Habambuhay'') and the plaque of appreciation to Pacquiao in a simple ceremony at the Rizal Hall of Malacañang Palace.

Pacquiao and Morales fought a third time (with the series tied 1–1) on Nov. 18, 2006. Witnessed by a near record crowd of 18,276, the match saw Pacquiao defeat Morales via a third-round knockout at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. After the Pacquiao–Morales rubber match, Bob Arum, Pacquiao's main promoter, announced that Manny had returned his signing bonus back to Golden Boy Promotions, signaling intentions to stay with Top Rank. This prompted Golden Boy Promotions to sue Pacquiao over breach of contract.

After a failed promotional negotiation with Marco Antonio Barrera's camp, Bob Arum chose Jorge Solís as Pacquiao's next opponent among several fighters Arum offered as replacements. The bout was held in San Antonio, Texas, on April 14, 2007. In the sixth round, an accidental headbutt occurred, giving Pacquiao a cut under his left eyebrow. The fight ended in the eighth when Pacquiao knocked Solis down twice. Solis barely beat the count after the second knockdown, causing the referee to stop the fight and award Pacquiao a knockout win. The victory raised Pacquiao's win–loss–draw record to 44–3–2 with 34 knockouts. This also marked the end of Solis's undefeated streak.

On June 29, 2007, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions announced that they agreed to settle their lawsuit, meaning the long-awaited rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera would occur despite Pacquiao being the top-ranked contender for the super featherweight title of Juan Manuel Márquez. On October 6, 2007, Pacquiao defeated Barrera in their rematch via an easy unanimous decision. In the eleventh round, Pacquiao's punch caused a deep cut below Barrera's right eye. Barrera retaliated with an illegal punch on the break that dazed Pacquiao but also resulted in a point deduction for Barrera. Two judges scored the bout 118–109, whereas the third scored it 115–112.

In ''The Ring'' Magazine, Pacquiao (45–3–2) remained at the top of the super featherweight division (130 pounds). He had been in the ratings for 108 weeks. On November 13, 2007, he was honored by the World Boxing Council as ''Emeritus Champion'' during its 45th Annual World Convention held at the Manila Hotel.

On November 20, 2007, José Nuñez, manager of WBO Super Featherweight champion Joan Guzmán, accused Pacquiao's handler Bob Arum of evading a match between the two boxers to protect Pacquiao. Guzmán went as far as to directly call out Pacquiao at the postfight press conference of the Pacquiao–Barrera rematch in front of the crowd at the Mandalay Bay Events Center's media room in Las Vegas.

On March 15, 2008, in a rematch against Juan Manuel Márquez called "Unfinished Business", Pacquiao won via split decision. The fight was held at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. With the victory, Pacquiao won the WBC Super Featherweight and ''The Ring'' Junior Lightweight World Titles, making him the first Filipino and Asian to become a four-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in four different weight divisions. The fight was a close hard fought battle, during which both fighters received cuts. Throughout the fight Márquez landed the most punches at a higher percentage; however, the decisive factor proved to be a third-round knockdown, wherein Márquez was floored by a Pacquiao left hook. At the end of the fight, the judges' scores were 115–112 for Pacquiao, 115–112 for Márquez, and 114–113 for Pacquiao.

In the post-fight news conference, Márquez’s camp called for an immediate rematch. In addition, Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy Promotions CEO, offered a $6 million guarantee to Pacquiao for a rematch. However, Pacquiao ruled out a third clash with Márquez, saying, "I don't think so. This business is over." The reason that Pacquiao did not want a rematch was because he intended to move up to the lightweight division to challenge David Díaz, the reigning WBC Lightweight World Champion at that time. Díaz won a majority decision over Ramón Montano that night as an undercard of the "Unfinished Business" fight.

Lightweight

On June 28, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Pacquiao defeated David Díaz in lightweight division via ninth-round knockout and won the WBC Lightweight World Title. With the victory, Pacquiao became the first and only Filipino and Asian to become a five-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in five different weight divisions, and also became the first Filipino fighter to ever win a world title at lightweight. During the fight, which Pacquiao dominated, Díaz was cut badly on his right eye in the fourth round. After the bout, Díaz acknowledged Pacquiao's superior hand speed, stating "It was his speed. It was all his speed. I could see the punches perfectly, but he was just too fast."

Bob Arum reported that the fight had made 12.5 million dollars earning Díaz his best payday of 850,000 dollars, whilst Pacquiao earned at least 3 million dollars. Official records revealed an attendance of 8,362 (out of a maximum capacity of 12,000).

Holding both the WBC World Super Featherweight and World Lightweight titles following the win, Pacquiao decided to vacate his super featherweight title in July 2008.

On August 7, 2008, the members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines issued a House Resolution, sponsored by South Cotabato Congresswoman Darlene Antonino-Custodio, which recognized Pacquiao as a "People’s Champ" — "for his achievements and in appreciation of the honor and inspiration he has been bringing... to the Filipino people." He received a plaque from the then House Speaker Prospero Nograles.

Welterweight

On December 6, 2008, Pacquiao moved up to the welterweight division, in order to face the six-division world champion Oscar De La Hoya at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight called "The Dream Match". Presented by Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank, the bout was scheduled as a twelve-round, non-title fight contested at the 147-pound welterweight limit. Although Pacquiao went into the fight widely recognized as the leading pound-for-pound boxer in the world, some boxing pundits had speculated that 147 pounds could be too far above his natural weight against the larger De La Hoya. However, due to rehydration after the weigh in, De la Hoya came into the fight actually weighing less than Pacquiao, and close to 20 pounds under his usual fighting weight. Pacquiao dominated the fight, and after eight rounds De La Hoya's corner was forced to throw in the towel, awarding Pacquiao the win via technical knockout.

Pacquiao was ahead on all three judges' scorecards before the stoppage, with two judges scoring the fight at 80–71 and one scoring it at 79–72. Moreover, Pacquiao landed 224 out of 585 punches, whilst De La Hoya landed only 83 out of 402 punches. After the bout, trainer Freddie Roach stated "We knew we had him after the first round. He had no legs, he was hesitant and he was shot." The fight would be De La Hoya's last, as he announced his retirement from boxing shortly after.

Pacquiao received 15 to 30 million dollars (share of the pay-per-view), plus a guaranteed amount. Tickets reportedly sold out just hours after they went on sale. Moreover, the total gate revenue for the fight was said to be nearly 17 million dollars, making it the second largest gate revenue in boxing history.

On December 22, 2008, Pacquiao has been decorated with the Philippine Legion of Honor with the rank of "Officer" (''Pinuno'') in a ceremony marking the 73rd founding anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. As an army reservist, he was given recognition for bringing pride and honor to the country through his remarkable achievements in the ring.

Light Welterweight

On May 2, 2009, Pacquiao fought at light welterweight or super lightweight division for the first time against Ricky Hatton at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight billed as "The Battle of the East and West". Pacquiao won the bout via knockout to claim the International Boxing Organization (IBO) Junior Welterweight and ''The Ring'' Junior Welterweight World Titles. In doing so, Pacquiao became the second man in boxing history to become a six-division world champion, a fighter who won world titles in six different weight divisions.

The fight was originally placed in jeopardy due to disputes with both camps over the fight purse money. Eventually, the money issue was settled and the fight went on as scheduled. HBO aired the contest.

Pacquiao started the fight strong, knocking down Hatton twice in the first round. A somewhat shaken Hatton beat the count, only to be saved by the bell seconds later. In the second round Hatton seemed to have recovered, as he stalked Pacquiao for most of the round. However, with less than ten seconds remaining in the second round, Hatton was knocked out cold by a sharp left hook, prompting the referee to award Pacquiao the win by knockout (at 2:59 of the round). The knockout won him the ''The Ring'' Magazine "Knockout of the Year" for 2009.

Return to Welterweight

On November 14, 2009, Pacquiao defeated Miguel Cotto via technical knockout in the twelfth round, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, in a fight billed as "Firepower". Although the bout was sanctioned as a world title fight in the welterweight division, where the weight limit is 147 pounds, Cotto agreed to fight at a catchweight of 145 pounds.

Pacquiao dominated the fight, knocking Cotto down in round three and round four, before the referee stopped the fight at 0:55 of round twelve. With this victory, Pacquiao took the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Welterweight World Title and WBO Super Champion belts, to become the first seven-division world champion, the first fighter in boxing history to win world titles in seven different weight divisions. Pacquiao also won the first and special WBC Diamond Championship belt. This belt was created as an honorary championship exclusively to award the winner of a historic fight between two high-profile boxers. After the fight, promoter Bob Arum stated "Pacquiao is the greatest boxer I've ever seen, and I've seen them all, including Ali, Hagler and Sugar Ray Leonard." Miguel Cotto said in a post fight interview: "Miguel Cotto comes to boxing to fight the biggest names, and Manny is one of the best boxers we have of all time." Cotto showed heart and fans regarded this as one of the year's best fights.

The fight generated 1.25 million buys and $70 million in domestic pay-per-view revenue, making it the most watched boxing event of 2009. Pacquiao earned around $22 million for his part in the fight, whilst Cotto earned around $12 million. Pacquiao–Cotto also generated a live gate of $8,847,550 from an official crowd of 15,930.

On November 20, 2009, in a simple rites at the Quirino Grandstand, President Macapagal-Arroyo conferred Pacquiao the Order of Sikatuna with the rank of ''Datu'' (Grand Cross) with Gold distinction (''Katangiang Ginto'') which usually bestowed to foreign diplomats and heads of state. It was awarded to Pacquiao for winning his historical seventh weight division world title.

Following the victory against Cotto, there was much public demand for a fight between the seven-division world champion Manny Pacquiao (the number-one pound-for-pound boxer) and the five-division world champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (the number-two and former number-one pound-for-pound boxer). Pacquiao reportedly agreed to fight Mayweather on March 13, 2010, for a split of $50 million up front. And it was later agreed that the venue for the fight would be the MGM Grand Las Vegas. However, the bout was put in jeopardy due to disagreements about Olympic-style drug testing. The Mayweather camp wanted random blood testing by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, whereas Pacquiao refused to have any blood testing within 30 days from the fight, because he thought it would weaken him, but he was willing to have blood taken from him before the 30-day window as well as immediately after the fight. Freddie Roach, on the other hand, commented that he would not allow blood to be taken from Pacquiao one week before the fight. In an attempt to resolve their differences, the two camps went through a process of mediation before a retired judge. After the mediation process Mayweather agreed to a 14-day no blood testing window. However, Pacquiao refused and instead only agreed to a 24-day no blood testing window. Consequently, on January 7, 2010, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum declared that the fight was officially off.

Because of Pacquiao's reluctance to submit to random blood testing to the extent requested by Mayweather, and despite lack of evidence, the Mayweather camp repeated their suggestion that Pacquiao was using banned substances, which resulted in Pacquiao filing a lawsuit for defamation, seeking damages in excess of 75,000 dollars. The lawsuit cited accusations made by Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Floyd Mayweather Sr., Roger Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer.

After negotiations for the Mayweather fight fell through, other boxers were considered to replace Mayweather as Pacquiao's next opponent, including former light welterweight champion Paul Malignaggi, and WBA World Super Welterweight champion Yuri Foreman. However, Pacquiao chose to fight former IBF Welterweight World Champion Joshua Clottey instead.

On March 13, 2010, at the Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, Pacquiao defeated Clottey via unanimous decision to retain his WBO Welterweight World Title belt. The judges scored the fight 120–108, 119–109 and 119–109, all in favor of Pacquiao. During the fight, Pacquiao threw a total of 1231 punches (a career high), but landed just 246, as most were blocked by Clottey's tight defense. On the other hand, Clottey threw a total of 399 punches, landing 108.

The fight was rewarded with a paid crowd of 36,371 and a gate of $6,359,985, according to post-fight tax reports filed with Texas boxing regulators. Counting complimentary tickets delivered to sponsors, media outlets and others, the Dallas fight attracted 41,843, well short of the 50,994 that was previously announced, but still an epic number for boxing. In addition, the bout drew 700,000 pay-per-view buys and earned $35.3 million in domestic revenue.

Manny Pacquiao was named as the Fighter of the Decade for years 2000–2009 by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). This award was presented by legendary boxer Joe Frazier, who was also a recipient of the award himself back in 1978 for defeating Muhammad Ali. Aside from this prestigious recognition, he was also named as the Sugar Ray Robinson Fighter of the Year for 2009, having received the same honor in 2006 and 2008. The awards ceremony was held at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on June 4, 2010.

After his victory over Clottey, Pacquiao was expected to return to boxing in late 2010 with a possible matchup against Floyd Mayweather Jr. It was later reported that Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer and Top Rank Chief Bob Arum worked out a '"Super Fight" between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. However, complications arose when Mayweather requested Pacquiao undergo random blood and urine testing up until the fight day. Pacquiao responded that he would agree to undergo blood and urine testing up until 14 days before the fight (as requested by Mayweather in the first round of negotiations), stating that giving blood too close to the fight day would weaken him. On May 13, 2010, Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum announced that he had penciled in November 13, 2010 as the date of Manny Pacquiao's next fight, possibly against Mayweather. However, the stumbling block over demands that Pacquiao submit to Olympic-level random drug testing put the fight in jeopardy.

On June 12, 2010, the President of Golden Boy Promotions, Oscar De La Hoya, stated during an interview with a Spanish network that the deal for the fight was very close and the negotiation process has been very difficult. On June 30, 2010, Arum announced that the management of both sides had agreed to terms, that all points had been settled (including Pacquiao agreeing to submit to both blood and urine testing) and only the signature of Floyd Mayweather, Jr. was needed to seal the deal that could have earned both fighters at least $40 million each. Mayweather was then given a two-week deadline for the fight contract to be signed. Arum also announced that Pacquiao accepted the terms of the random drug testing, blood and urine, leading up to the fight.

On July 15, 2010, Bob Arum announced that Pacquiao's camp would give Mayweather until Friday midnight to sign the fight. The next day the Top Rank website embedded a countdown clock on their website with the heading "Money" Time: Mayweather's Decision. On July 17, 2010, Arum announced that there was no word from Mayweather's camp and the deal for a November 13, 2010 fight with Mayweather Jr. was not reached.

On July 19, 2010, Leonard Ellerbe, one of Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s closest advisers, denied that negotiations for a super fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao had ever taken place. Ellerbe stated that Bob Arum was not telling the truth. Bob Arum responded, questioning that if there was no negotiation, then who imposed the gag order (referring to a gag order about the negotiation allegedly imposed on both camps) and who could there be a gag order from if there were no negotiations. He also criticized Oscar De La Hoya and his Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer for denying that negotiations took place, when De La Hoya himself had previously stated that they were "very, very close in finalizing the contracts". Arum revealed that HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg acted as the mediator between Mayweather’s handlers and those of Pacquiao’s from Top Rank Promotions. On July 26, 2010, Ross Greenburg said in a statement that he has been negotiating with a representative from each side since May 2, 2010, carefully trying to put the fight together and he did in fact act as a go-between in negotiations with the two sides, but they were unable to come to an agreement, contradicting what Arum and the Pacquiao camp had said. Floyd Mayweather Jr., after the second negotiation had been officially declared off, told the Associated Press that he had fought sixty days ago and that he was not interested in rushing into anything and was not really thinking about boxing at the moment. Almost a year later, on July 8, 2011, Manny Pacquiao's top adviser Michael Koncz confirmed that Pacquiao had in fact never agreed to testing up until fight day, which contradicted what Bob Arum and the Pacquiao camp had been saying for well over a year.

Light Middleweight

On July 23, 2010, Bob Arum announced that Pacquiao would fight Antonio Margarito on November 13, 2010. The fight for the vacant WBC Super Welterweight World Title gave Pacquiao the chance to win a world title in his eighth weight class, the light middleweight or super welterweight division. A catchweight of 150 pounds was established for the fight although the weight limit for the light middleweight division is 154 pounds. During the pre-fight, Pacquiao weighed in at a low 144.6 pounds, while Margarito weighed in at the limit of 150 pounds. Pacquiao said he was pleased with his weight because he loses too much speed when he gains pounds. During the fight itself, Pacquiao weighed 148 lbs, 17 pounds lighter than Margarito's 165.

Prior to the fight, Pacquiao's team demanded to the Texas officials to test Margarito for banned substances after a weight loss supplement, reportedly Hydroxycut, was found in his locker. It was stated that the officials would undergo testing for both boxers after the fight. In the fight, Pacquiao defeated Margarito via unanimous decision, using his superior handspeed and movement to win his 8th world title in as many divisions. In the penultimate round, Pacquiao implored referee Laurence Cole several times to stop the fight as Margarito had a swollen face and a large cut beneath the right eye, but the referee let the fight continue. Margarito had to be taken directly to the hospital after the fight, where it was discovered his orbital bone had been fractured; he had to undergo surgery.

On November 22, 2010, after winning world title in his eighth weight division, Pacquiao was awarded with another Congressional Medal of Distinction from his fellow congressmen led by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte during the ceremony at the Philippine House of Representatives.

Because Pacquiao had no plans to defend the WBC Super Welterweight World Title that he won against Margarito, the WBC Board of Governors voted to declare the title vacant.

Second Return to Welterweight

On May 7, 2011, Pacquiao successfully defended his WBO World Welterweight title against three-division world champion Shane Mosley via lopsided unanimous decision at the MGM Grand Arena. Rapper LL Cool J performed as Mosley entered first the arena, while vocalist Jimi Jamison of the rock band Survivor sang "Eye of the Tiger" as Pacquiao approached the ring. Pacquiao knocked Mosley down in the third round using a one-two capped with a left straight. Mosley was left dazed by the knockdown but managed to stand up. Mosley floored Pacquiao in the tenth round with a push, but referee Kenny Bayless inexplicably ruled it a knockdown. None of the judges seemed to have bought it judging from the scores. Replays showed that Pacquiao was throwing a punch off balance, had his right foot stepped on by Mosley's left foot and went down with a little help from Mosley's right hand. Bayless apologized to Pacquiao after the fight for the mistake. Pacquiao gained one-sided verdicts from all three judges – 119–108, 120–108 and 120–107. Pacquiao reported that the only thing preventing him from knocking out Mosley was a cramp in his legs. Freddie Roach said that Pacquiao had problems with cramping before but usually in training sessions and not in the middle of bouts. After the fight, there was much controversy over Shane Mosley reportedly told Floyd Mayweather that he should have made Pacquiao "take the test".

Bob Arum talked about having Pacquiao's next bout at the MGM Grand on November 5, 2011 or across town at the Thomas and Mack Center on November 12, 2011. Arum listed Juan Manuel Marquez as the first choice and then mentioned Timothy Bradley and Zab Judah as other options.

Professional boxing record

|align="center" colspan=8|53 Wins (38 knockouts, 15 decisions), 3 Losses (2 by knockout, 1 by decision), 2 Draws |- | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Res. | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Opponent | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Type | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Rd | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Date | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Location | align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3"|Notes |-align=center | || align=left| Juan Manuel Marquez | || ? || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Shane Mosley | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Antonio Margarito | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Joshua Clottey | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Miguel Ángel Cotto | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Ricky Hatton | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Oscar De La Hoya | || 8 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| David Díaz | || 9 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Juan Manuel Márquez | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Marco Antonio Barrera | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Jorge Solís | || 8 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Érik Morales | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Óscar Larios | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Érik Morales | || 10 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Héctor Velázquez | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Érik Morales | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Fahsan Por Thawatchai | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |style="background: #B0C4DE"| || align=left| Juan Manuel Márquez | || 12 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Marco Antonio Barrera | || 11 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Emmanuel Lucero | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Serikzhan Yeshmagambetov | || 5 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Fahprakorb Rakkiatgym | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Jorge Eliecer Julio | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center |style="background: #B0C4DE"| || align=left| Agapito Sánchez | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Lehlohonolo Ledwaba | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Wethya Sakmuangklang | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Tetsutora Senrima | || 5 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Nedal Hussein | || 10 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Seung-Kon Chae | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Arnel Barotillo | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Reynante Jamili | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Medgoen Singsurat | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Gabriel Mira | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Todd Makelim | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Chatchai Sasakul | || 8 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Shin Terao | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Panomdej Ohyuthanakorn | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Melvin Magramo | || 10 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Chokchai Chockvivat | || 5 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Ariel Austria | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Wook-Ki Lee | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Mike Luna | || 1 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Sung-Yul Lee | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Ippo Gala | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Bert Batiller | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| John Medina | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Marlon Carillo | || 10 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Rustico Torrecampo | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Lito Torrejos | || 5 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Rolando Toyogon | || 10 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Rudolfo Fernandez | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Renato Mendones | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Lolito Laroa | || 8 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Armando Rocil | || 3 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Acasio Simbajon | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Dele Decierto | || 2 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Rocky Palma | || 6 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Pinoy Montejo | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left| |-align=center | || align=left| Edmund Enting Ignacio | || 4 || |align=left| |align=left|

Titles in boxing

''Major World Titles:''

WBC Flyweight World Champion ''(112 lbs)''

IBF Junior Featherweight World Champion ''(122 lbs)''

''The Ring'' Featherweight World Champion ''(126 lbs)''

WBC Super Featherweight World Champion ''(130 lbs)''

''The Ring'' Junior Lightweight World Champion ''(130 lbs)''

WBC Lightweight World Champion ''(135 lbs)''

''The Ring'' Junior Welterweight World Champion ''(140 lbs)''

WBO Welterweight World Champion ''(147 lbs)''

WBC Super Welterweight World Champion ''(154 lbs)''

''Minor World Title:''

IBO Junior Welterweight World Champion ''(140 lbs)''

''Lineal Championship Titles:''

Lineal Featherweight World Champion ''(126 lbs)''

Lineal Super Featherweight World Champion ''(130 lbs)''

Lineal Light Welterweight World Champion ''(140 lbs)''

''Regional/International Titles:''

OPBF Flyweight Champion ''(112 lbs)''

WBC Super Bantamweight International Champion ''(122 lbs)''

WBC Super Featherweight International Champion ''(130 lbs)''

''Special Titles:''

WBC Emeritus Champion

WBC Diamond Champion

WBO Super Champion

Acting career

name	Manny Pacquiao
birth name	Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao
othername	Manny, Pacman
occupation	Professional Boxer, Actor, Politician
yearsactive	2000 – Present
notable role	}}

Pacquiao started his acting career as an extra in some local films and guest appearances on ABS-CBN shows.

In December 2005 Pacquiao took his first lead role in Violett Films' ''Lisensyadong Kamao'' (Licensed Fist). The movie is titled so because (according to director Tony Bernal), being a Boxer, Pacquiao is licensed to use his hands.

In 2008, Pacquiao starred with Ara Mina and Valerie Concepcion in ''Anak ng Kumander'' (Son of Commander). The movie was not a commercial success and was panned by critics.

Pacquiao starred in the superhero/comedy film entitled ''Wapakman'', which was released on December 25, 2009 as an entry to the 2009 Metro Manila Film Festival. Like his previous films ''Wapakman'' was not commercially successful.

Upon the expiration of his contract with ABS-CBN, Pacquiao signed with GMA Network as an actor in September 2007. On December 17, 2007, he taped his first episode of the networks infotainment show ''Pinoy Records''. His other projects with the network included ''Totoy Bato'' and the sitcom ''Show Me Da Manny'' in which his mother, Dionesia, also appeared.

American actor Sylvester Stallone is reportedly in talks with Pacquiao over co-starring in one of Stallone's future films, which is in the planning stages. The film would be Pacquiao's Hollywood debut.

In 2011, Pacquiao appeared on ''Tosh.0'' in which he was paired in a fight with Daniel Tosh. It resulted in Pacquiao winning in one punch.

Filmography

''Mahal Kita... Kahit Sino Ka Pa!'' ''Basagan ng Mukha'' ''Lisensyadong Kamao'' ''Anak ng Kumander'' Brown Soup Thing ''Pangarap Kong Jackpot'' Wapakman No Fear: The Manny Pacquiao Story The People's Champion ''Kamao: Matira Ang Matibay'' Ok Fine Whatever ''Ako ang Simula'' The Battle of Cebu: Moment of Truth Kababayan LA: Manny Pacquiao Specials Pinoy Records ''Totoy Bato'' ''Show Me Da Manny'' Rome is BurningJimmy Kimmel Live MMA H.E.A.T. Jimmy Kimmel Live HBO Boxing After DarkESPN Friday Night Fights Jimmy Kimmel Live 60 MinutesManny Many Prizes

Year !! Film !! Role !! Other Notes
2000	''Di Ko Kayang Tanggapin''	Dong
2001	|
2001	|	Dodong
2005	|	Ambrosio "Bruce" Lerio
2008	|	Kumander Idel	Writer/Producer
2008	|	Cousin Manny
2008	|	Abel	segment ''"Sa Ngalan ng Busabos"''
2009	|	Magno Meneses/Wapakman
Year !! Television Shows !! Role !! Other Notes
2004	''Walang Bakas''	Himself (uncredited)
2004	|	Himself	Video documentary
2004	|	Himself	Video documentary
2005	|	Himself – Host
2005	|	Himself – Guest
2006	|	Himself	TV documentary
2007	|	Himself – Crowd
2009	|	Himself
2009	|	Himself – Host
2009	|	Emmanuel
2009	|	Manny Santos
2009	|	Himself – Correspondent	Episode dated May 1
2009	|	Himself – Guest	Episode dated November 3
2009	|	Himself	Episode dated November 12
2010	|	Himself – Guest	Episode dated March 3
2010	|	Himself – Audience Member	Episode dated June 18
2010	|	Himself	Episode dated July 2
2010	|	Himself – Guest	Episode dated November 1
2010	|	Himself – Guest
2011	|	Himself – Host

Discography

Name	Manny Pacquiao
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Emmanuel D. Pacquiao
Origin	General Santos City
Occupation	Boxer, Actor, Singer, Politician
Years active	2006–present
Label	Star RecordsMCA RecordsGMA Records
Associated acts	Lito CamoFrancis Magalona }}

Most of the Tagalog songs of Pacquiao were composed by Lito Camo. The following are the songs from Manny Pacquiao's albums:

''Laban Nating Lahat Ito'' (2006) – under Star Records

*"Bilog"

*"Para Sa'Yo Ang Laban Na 'To"

*"Pagsubok Lamang Yan"

*"Byaheng Pag-asa"

*"Ipakita Mo"

*"Ikaw at Ako"

*"Hindi Ko Kaya"

*"Kanta Tayo"

*"Champion Sa Kantahan"

*"Laban Nating Lahat Ito" (feat Francis M.)

''Pac-Man Punch'' (2007) – under MCA Records

*"Pac-Man Punch" – Willie Wilcox feat. Nemesis Yankee and Manny Pacquiao

*"Pac-Man Punch (R U Ready?)" – Willie Wilcox feat. Nemesis Yankee

*"Pac-Man Punch (Knockout Remix)" – Willie Wilcox feat. Nemesis Yankee and Manny Pacquiao

*"Pac-Man Punch (Minus One)"

2009 Single under GMA Records

*"Lahing Pinoy"

2011 Single

Remake of Dan Hill's Sometimes When We Touch

Political career

name	Emmanuel D. Pacquiao
order
Office	Member of the Philippine House of Representatives from Sarangani's Lone District
term start	June 30, 2010
predecessor	Erwin L. Chiongbian
party	Liberal Party (2007, 2010)Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (2008)Nacionalista Party (2009–2010) People's Champ Movement (2010)
residence	Kiamba, Sarangani
alma mater	Notre Dame of Dadiangas University
profession	Professional Boxer, Actor
religion	Roman Catholic
website	www.congress.gov.ph
footnotes	}}

2007 Election

On February 12, 2007, Pacquiao officially announced that he would be running for a seat in the House of Representatives in the May 2007 legislative election as a candidate of the Liberal Party, aiming to represent the 1st District of South Cotabato. Pacquiao, who has been known to be supportive of the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, said that he was persuaded to run by local officials of General Santos City, who hoped he would act as a bridge between their interests and the national government. Pacquiao was defeated in the election by incumbent Rep. Darlene Antonino-Custodio, who said, "More than anything, I think, people weren't prepared to lose him as their boxing icon".

In September 2008, Pacquiao was sworn in as member of Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI), a pro-administration political party.

2010 Election

On November 21, 2009, Pacquiao confirmed that he would run again for the congressional seat but this time in Sarangani province, the hometown of his wife Jinkee. He originally planned to run for congress under his own party, the People's Champ Movement, but has since joined the Nacionalista Party headed by Manny Villar. Villar said arrangements were made to accommodate Pacquiao’s People’s Champ Movement in a coalition with the Nacionalista Party for the May 2010 elections in Sarangani.

On May 13, 2010, Pacquiao was officially proclaimed congressman of the lone district of Sarangani. He scored a landslide victory over the wealthy and politically well-entrenched Chiongbian clan that had been in power in the province for more than thirty years. Pacquiao got 120,052 votes while his opponent for the seat, Roy Chiongbian, got 60,899 votes.

On June 28, 2010, Pacquiao took his oath of office as congressman before Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio in the Provincial Capitol of Sarangani in Municipality of Alabel. He announced that he will transfer to President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III's Liberal Party from Nacionalista Party as he wants to ensure the entry of more projects to his province.

In popular culture

A film based on Pacquiao's life, ''Pacquiao: The Movie'', was released on June 21, 2006, featuring Filipino actor Jericho Rosales as Manny Pacquiao and was directed by Joel Lamangan. The film flopped at the box office, grossing a total of only P4,812,191 (approximately US$99,322), as confirmed by Lamangan.

Pacquiao is featured in the boxing video games ''Fight Night Round 2'', ''Fight Night Round 3'', ''Fight Night Round 4'' and ''Fight Night Champion''. EA Sports released a limited edition demo of Fight Night Round 4, featuring Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton prior to their May 2 fight.

Pacquiao became the first Filipino athlete to appear on a postage stamp.

Pacquiao became the first Filipino Olympic non-participant to be Team Philippines’ flag-bearer during the August 8 opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics at the Beijing National Stadium. Swimmer Miguel Molina, 2005 Southeast Asian Games’ Best Male Athlete, yielded the honor to Pacquiao, upon the request of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the national sports officials on the Philippines at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Pacquiao plays basketball as a cross-training to keep himself in shape. He is playing in the semi-professional basketball league, Liga Pilipinas, with the team he owns, the MP-Gensan Warriors. He made his debut in the Smart-Liga Pilipinas Conference II in January 16, 2009. He wears jersey number 17.

Pacquiao became an honorary member of Boston Celtics. The honorary membership was bestowed on him in a brief ceremony and he was presented with a replica of a green and white Celtics jersey bearing his name and number 1. As a measure of gratitude, Pacquiao delivered a stockpile of red autographed boxing gloves to TD Garden. On March 10, 2010, prior to the night's game with Memphis Grizzlies, many of the Celtics had a special motivational gift waiting for them in their lockers.

With his popularity, various business sectors have solicited Manny Pacquiao's help in endorsing their products through commercial advertisements in print and in broadcast media. These include detergents, medicines, foods, beverage, garments, telecommunications, and even a political ad for politicians during the 2007 and 2010 Philippine elections. His most acclaimed commercials yet were for Nike's "Fast Forward" campaign (alongside Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Maria Sharapova, Roger Federer, Cristiano Ronaldo and Liu Xiang) and San Miguel Beer with Jet Li and Érik Morales.

Pacquiao has been included by Time Magazine as one of the world's most influential people for the year 2009, for his exploits in boxing and his influence among the Filipino people. Pacquiao was also included by Forbes Magazine in its annual Celebrity 100 list for the year 2009, joining Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie and fellow athletes Tiger Woods and Bryant. Forbes also listed Pacquiao as the World's 6th Highest Paid Athlete, with a total of 40 Million Dollars ($40,000,000.00) or 2 Billion Pesos (₱2,000,000,000.00) from the second half of 2008 to the first half of 2009. Tied with him on the sixth spot was the NBA player LeBron James and golfer Phil Mickelson. Pacquiao was again included in Forbes' list of Highest Paid Athletes from the second half of 2009 to the first half of 2010; he was ranked 8th with an income of $42 million. Pacquiao had also won the 2009 ESPY Awards for the Best Fighter category, beating fellow boxer Shane Mosley and Brazilian mixed martial arts fighters Lyoto Machida and Anderson Silva. More recently, ESPN Magazine reported that Pacquiao is one of the two top earning athletes for 2010, alongside American Major League baseball player Alex Rodriguez. According to the magazine's annual salary report of athletes, Pacquiao earned $32 million (approximately PhP 1.38 billion) for his two 2010 boxing matches against Clottey and Margarito.

Pacquiao has also graced the cover of Time Magazine Asia for their November 16, 2009 issue. According to their five-page feature story, "(Pacquiao is) a fighter with enough charisma, intelligence and backstory to help rescue a sport lost in the labyrinth of pay-per-view. Global brands like Nike want him in their ads." They also added, "Pacquiao has a myth of origin equal to that of any Greek or Roman hero. He leaves the Philippines to make it even bigger, conquering the world again and again to bring back riches to his family and friends." He became the eighth Filipino to grace the cover of the prestigious magazine, after former Philippine presidents Manuel L. Quezon, Ramon Magsaysay, Ferdinand Marcos, Corazon Aquino, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Benigno Aquino III and Filipino actress and environmentalist Chin Chin Gutierrez. Pacquiao was also featured on the cover of Reader’s Digest Asia, where a seven-page story was written about the Filipino boxing superstar. The issue came out before Pacquiao’s epic match against De La Hoya on November 2008.

Recognitions

''International:'' 2000–09 Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Decade 2000–09 HBO Fighter of the Decade 2006, 2008, and 2009 Boxing Writers Association Fighter of the Year 2006, 2008 and 2009 ESPN Fighter of the Year

2006, 2008, and 2009 ''The Ring'' Fighter of the Year

2001–2010 World Boxing Council Boxer of the Decade 2008 Sports Illustrated Boxer of the Year 2008 Yahoo! Sports Fighter of the Year 2008 and 2009 ESPN Star's Champion of Champions 2008 and 2009 World Boxing Council Boxer of the Year

2008, 2009 and 2010 ''The Ring'' No.1 Pound-for-Pound (year-end)

2009 Ask Men Most Influential Men (ranked 24th) 2009 ESPN Knockout of the Year (''in Round 2 against Ricky Hatton'') 2009 ESPY Awards Best Fighter 2009 Forbes Magazine World's Highest-Paid Athletes (ranked 6th) 2009 Sports Illustrated Fighter of the Year

2009 ''The Ring'' Knockout of the Year (''in Round 2 against Ricky Hatton'')

2009 TIME 100 Most Influential People (Heroes and Icons Category) 2009 and 2010 Forbes Magazine Celebrity 100 (ranked 57th and 55th) 2010 Bleacher Report Most Exciting Athletes of All Time (ranked 85th) 2010 World Boxing Organization Fighter of the Year 2010 Yahoo! Sports Boxing's Most Influential (ranked 25th)

''National:'' 2000–09 Philippine Sportswriters Association Athlete of the Decade

2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 and 2008 PSA Sportsman of the Year

2003 Presidential Medal of Merit

2003 and 2010 Congressional Medal of Achievement / Distinction / Honor

2006 Order of Lakandula with the rank of "Champion for Life" (''Kampeon Habambuhay'') 2008 Philippine Legion of Honor with the rank of "Officer" (''Pinuno'') 2008 University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) Honorary Award for Sports Excellence 2009 Order of Sikatuna with the rank of ''Datu'' (Grand Cross with Gold Distinction)

2011 Gabriel "Flash" Elorde Memorial "Quintessential Athlete" Award

See also

List of current world boxing champions

List of ''The Ring'' world champions

List of WBC world champions

List of IBF world champions

List of WBO world champions

List of IBO world champions

List of flyweight boxing champions

List of super bantamweight boxing champions

List of super featherweight boxing champions

List of lightweight boxing champions

List of welterweight boxing champions

List of super welterweight boxing champions

List of boxing triple champions

List of boxing quadruple champions

List of boxing quintuple champions

List of boxing sextuple champions

List of boxing septuple champions

List of boxing octuple champions

''The Ring'' pound for pound

References

External links

Manny Pacquiao's Official Site

PACLAND – Official Fan Site

MPBoxing.com

Rep. Emmanuel D. Pacquiao Official Profile

HBO Boxing: Manny Pacquiao: Bio

Fight Videos

Manny Pacquiao's Fight-by-Fight Career Record

''GQ Magazine'' Profile

Nike – Inside Pacquiao

PacMan: Behind the Scenes with Manny Pacquiao: A Biography of Pacquiao, published by Da Capo Press

- - - - - - - {{s-ttl | title=WBC Flyweight World Champion| years=December 4, 1998 – September 17, 1999Stripped}} - {{s-ttl | title=IBF Junior Featherweight World Champion| years=June 23, 2001 – July 26, 2003Vacated}} - {{s-ttl | title=''The Ring'' Featherweight World Champion| years=November 15, 2003 – March 19, 2005Vacated}} - {{s-ttl | title=WBC Super Featherweight World Champion| years=March 15, 2008 – July 16, 2008Vacated}} - {{s-ttl | title=''The Ring'' Junior Lightweight World Champion| years=March 15, 2008 – July 16, 2008Vacated}} - {{s-ttl | title=WBC Lightweight World Champion | years=June 28, 2008 – February 24, 2009Vacated}} - {{s-ttl | title=IBO Junior Welterweight World Champion | years=May 2, 2009 – January 15, 2010Vacated}} - {{s-ttl | title=''The Ring'' Junior Welterweight World Champion | years=May 2, 2009 – July 26, 2010Vacated}} - {{s-ttl | title=WBO Welterweight World Champion(Super Champion) | years=November 14, 2009 – ''present''}} - {{s-ttl | title=WBC Super Welterweight World Champion | years=November 13, 2010 – February 8, 2011
Stripped}} -

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Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:Featherweight boxers Category:Filipino basketball players Category:Filipino boxers Category:Filipino actor-politicians Category:Filipino Roman Catholics Category:Flyweight boxers Category:International Boxing Federation Champions Category:Super-featherweight boxers Category:Light-welterweight boxers Category:Lightweight boxers Category:Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Category:Notre Dame Educational Association Philippines Category:People from Bukidnon Category:People from South Cotabato Category:Southpaw boxers Category:Super-bantamweight boxers Category:World Boxing Council Champions Category:World Boxing Organization Champions Category:Welterweight boxers Category:World boxing champions Category:World flyweight boxing champions Category:World super-featherweight boxing champions Category:World lightweight boxing champions Category:Recipients of the Order of Sikatuna Category:Athlete-politicians Category:Partner of the Free Filipino politicians Category:Nacionalista Party politicians Category:Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Category:People's Champ Movement politicians Category:Recipients of the Order of Lakandula

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