Ivan Emelianenko will hold his first fight after his release from prison in November.

Russian fighter Ivan Emelianenko will fight in full-contact martial arts (WTKF) with Iranian Hassan Yousefi in mid-November. This will be Emelianenko's first fight after being released from prison. This was announced on October 3 by promoter Vladimir Hryunov.

"The next tournament is scheduled for mid-November, in which Ivan Emelianenko will compete against Hassan Yousefi from Iran. This match was scheduled for the October tournament, but was postponed due to the delay in the parole procedure. — Ed.)," the promoter said in an interview with Match TV.

Hryunov noted that Emelianenko is in good physical shape, and "there is great interest in the fighter." The promoter also said that the Russian will be a guest of the full-contact martial arts tournament, which will be held on October 5 in the Moscow suburb of Krasnoznamensk in memory of the Knight of the Order of the Red Star A. Atmanskikh.

"Life develops in different ways, and with him (Emelianenko. — Ed.) That's what happened. But he's a human being, and we need to give him the opportunity. We respect the entire Emelianenko family. We've done it before, and we'll do it now," Hryunov concluded.

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In December 2024, Emelianenko was sentenced to one and a half years in prison under the article on intentionally causing serious harm to health. In the spring of 2024, he got into a street conflict with a man who had insulted his family, and punched the offender in the face several times.

Ivan Emelianenko was released from prison on parole on September 26. The fighter told Izvestia about his plans to return to the ring. He also shared that friends and relatives supported and worried about him.

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