part in the Russian Cup of Combat Sambo representing Saint Petersburg, winning the heavyweight tournament (his brother Fedor injured his hand during the tournament) and earning the right to represent Russia at the World Championships. Emelianenko participated in sambo at Sportaccord Combat Games 2010 in Beijing, where he won the silver medal in the +100 kg category. Emelianenko has famously said of his fighting prowess, "My punches are like electric trains, if I miss, my opponent would catch a cold." Mixed martial arts career The Pride years One of the youngest fighters to debut in Pride Fighting Championships at 22 years old, on at the event Pride Bushido 1, Emelianenko made his professional mixed martial arts (MMA) debut against Brazilian Assuerio Silva, defeating Silva by split decision. In his next fight on , Emelianenko fought against Brazilian fighter Angelo Araujo at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2003 Inoki Festival, defeating Araujo by TKO after Emelianenko cut Araujo above the right eye and the doctor stopped the fight. At PRIDE Bushido 3 on , Emelianenko defeated Australian Matt Foki via rear naked choke in the first round. In his fourth professional fight, Emelianenko was defeated in the first round via KO (head kick) by Croat Mirko Cro Cop, one of the top heavyweight contenders in MMA at the time, at Pride Final Conflict 2004 on . On , Emelianenko rebounded with a victory over Brazilian Carlos "Carlão" Barreto by decision at M-1 MFC Middleweight GP, the first time that Emelianenko fought outside Japan. Returning to Pride, on at Pride 28 Emelianenko knocked out English brawler James Thompson in eleven seconds, Emelianenko's shortest fight to date. In his second shortest fight, Emelianenko defeated Brazilian Ricardo Morais by KO (punches) in fifteen seconds on at Pride Bushido 6. Emelianenko has commented that he broke one of his hands while punching Morais. In his third consecutive KO victory, on Emelianenko defeated Dutch kickboxer Rene Rooze in 28 second with a brutal knockout that left Rooze unconscious for some minutes at Bushido Rotterdam Rumble in the Netherlands. At Pride Shockwave 2005 on , Emelianenko submitted 1996 gold medalist judoka Pawel Nastula with a rear naked choke in the first round. In Emelianenko's second professional loss, on at the event Pride Total Elimination Absolute, during the second round of Pride 2006 Openweight Grand Prix, King of Pancrase Josh Barnett just defeated Emelianenko with a keylock, after Emelianenko slipped and