One of the most famous and recognizable students of Fedor Emelianenko is certainly Kirill Sidelnikov. He was a fighter with enormous potential who made his mixed martial arts debut at age 18, knocking out his opponent in 19 seconds. Then there was a series of fights at the M-1 Selection and M-1 Challenge tournaments, which included the fight against Martin Soltysik that spread all over the world, the knockout of which is still included in a variety of highlights.
And what was even more unexpected was that at the age of only 22, in 2010, Sidelnikov announced the end of his professional career and after that for five whole years he competed only in combat sambo tournaments, managing to win the world champion title five times and four European champion titles.
However, many experts and fans were waiting for his return to mixed martial arts, and this happened when Fedor signed a contract with the newly created Japanese promotion Rizin in 2015. Emelianenko invited his students with him, and Kirill, five years later, decides to resume his career. And his opponent in the first fight upon his return was the Brazilian heavyweight Carlos Toyota. He spent his entire career competing in various Asian tournaments and was famous for knocking out many strong fighters, including the giant Hong Man Choi.
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