[3][6] When he was a teenager, while his brother Fedor was in the Russian Army, his parents separated and, since then, Emelianenko has had a strained relationship with his father, with whom he rarely speaks.

[13] Emelianenko participated in sambo at Sportaccord Combat Games 2010 in Beijing, where he won the silver medal in the +100 kg category.

[20][21] In his fourth professional fight, Emelianenko was defeated in the first round via KO (head kick) by Mirko Cro Cop, one of the top heavyweight contenders in MMA at the time, at Pride Final Conflict 2004 on 15 August 2004.

[32][33] At Pride Shockwave 2005 on 31 December 2005, Emelianenko submitted 1996 gold medalist judoka Pawel Nastula with a rear naked choke in the first round.

[7][8][40] In his last fight in Pride, Emelianenko defeated former teammate and fellow Russian Sergei Kharitonov via TKO in a back and forth match which ended in the first round after Emelianenko punched and kneed Kharitonov relentlessly on the ground, forcing the referee to stop the fight at Pride Final Conflict Absolute on 10 September 2006.

[46][47] In his next match, Emelianenko faced Dutch Jessie Gibbs (called Gibson at the time), who was a late replacement for Gilbert Yvel.

[48] Emelianenko defeated Gibbs with a kimura submission in the first round at M-1 Mix Fight Championship: Russia vs Europe on 21 July 2007.

[54][55][56] But at the weigh-ins for the event,[57] it was announced that Emelianenko was unable to meet the licensing standards of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).

[59] Emelianenko denied the rumors of testing positive for hepatitis B, commenting that he was unable to compete because he was late for his medical exam, having arrived two days after the scheduled date due to visa issues.

[63] Returning to Europe, on 21 November 2008 at M-1 Global's event M-1 Challenge 9 in Saint Petersburg, Emelianenko defeated South Korean Sang Soo Lee via KO (punches) in the first round.

[72][73] After a year without professional MMA matches, Emelianenko's next fight was on 23 April 2010 at ProFC: Commonwealth Cup against Swedish wrestler Eddy Bengtsson.

[76] During July 2010, Emelianenko was in talks with Polish promotion KSW (Konfrontacja Sztuk Walki) for a possible match up against strongman Mariusz Pudzianowski and reached a verbal agreement.

[85][86][87] After the controversy, Strefa Walk announced a fight between Emelianenko and Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem, which Bas Boon, head of Golden Glory, confirmed to a Polish MMA website that it was in negotiations,[88][89] but a few days later Overeem announced on Twitter that he was not going to fight Emelianenko.

He announced his retirement from MMA competition through an open letter to his fans on 18 December 2012, citing a chronic injury and a lack of time for his family as contributing factors in his decision.

[100] His first match since retirement however was at the Legend Fighting Show against American MMA superstar Bob Sapp on 25 May 2013, in Moscow.

[101] Alexander was expected to fight Darrill Schoonover on 25 August at the ProFC 50 event in Rostov-on-Don in Russia, but withdrew due to a knee injury.

In a video released on the ProFC website, Emelianenko said that he hoped to go ahead with the much-anticipated rematch with Mirko Cro Cop scheduled for November under the Legend Fighting Show banner.

Two more victories followed: in December over American Virgil Zwicker at "WFCA 44"[103] and in March 2018 over Pole Szymon Bayor at "Battle of the Volga".

On 18 August, during the WFCA 50th Akhmat League jubilee tournament in Moscow, Emelianenko faced American Tony Johnson in the main event.

[109] However, in early March 2019 Emelianenko was detained after crashing into two cars while fleeing police and driving under the influence, leading his upcoming bout canceled.

[114] On the YouTube channel Sport24's "HukVam" program, Alexander Emelianenko and Magomed Ismailov agreed by phone to fight.

[118] Emelianenko, as a replacement for Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, faced Márcio Santos was slated to serve as the event headliner at AMC Fight Nights 106.

[122][123] On 25 September 2022, Aleksander Emelianenko was knocked out in 13 seconds by Viacheslav Datsik in Moscow at a Hardcore Boxing event.

[128][129][130][131] In an interview published on 21 March 2008, his brother Fedor, in response to a direct question, confirmed that Alexander had spent time in prison, having been sentenced to five years but only serving three and a half.

[7][8][11][133][135] In a controversy apparently sparked by his tattoos, he was accused by NTV on 20 March 2010 of being a Russian nationalist like Roman Zentsov, which Emelianenko quickly denied, stating that he was only engaged in the development of MMA in his country, with no political motivations, especially for extremist groups.

[7][8][40][139] After the Russo-Georgian War, he went to South Ossetia to train in preparation for his bout against Sang Soo Lee, in a sign of solidarity with the Ossetian people.

On 19 May 2015, Emelianenko was found guilty of sexual assault and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison and a 50,000-ruble (USD $1000) fine.