Fedor Emelianenko made a successful return with a quick submission victory over Hong Man Choi at the Yarennoka New Years Eve event. The fight quickly hit the floor after the monsterous Choi, now 1-1, stuffed Fedor’s takedown attempt and landed on top. Emelianenko, who improved to 27-1 (with 1 no contest) with the win, attempted an armbar but Choi escaped. After a short time on their feet, the fight hit the floor in similar fashion but this time Fedor secured the arm-bar after taking a few punches.
On the undercard, Strikeforce Lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez suffered his first loss at the hands of PRIDE Bushido veteran Mitsuhiro Ishida via unanimous decision. Ishida scored repeated takedowns and controlled the fight from top position to earn the win.
The full results are as follows:
- Shinya Aoki def. Bu-Kyung Jung – Unanimous Decision
- Hayato “Mach” Sakurai def. Hidehiko Hasegawa – Unanimous Decision
- Fedor Emelianenko def. Hong Man Choi - Armbar Submission at 1:54 of Rd. 1
- Kazuo Misaki def. Yoshihiro Akiyama – KO (Strikes) at 2:12 of Rd. 1
- Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Gilbert Melendez - Unanimous Decision
- Makoto Takimoto def. Murilo Bustamante - Split Decision
- Tatsuya Kawajiri def. Luiz Azeredo – Unanimous Decision.
- Mike Russow def. Roman Zentsov - N/S Choke Submission at 2:58 of Rd. 1
