Fedor Emelianenko made his return to the sport of mixed martial arts on New Year’s Eve. It was the inaugural event for the brand new Japanese promotion RIZIN FF. The former heavyweight standout made quick work of his novice opponent Jaideep Singh. Singh entered the bout with only two professional bout while Emelianenko has had well over 30 fights.

Fedor only needed three minutes to take Singh to the ground and unleash a flurry of punches and elbows as the young fighter from India had no answer for the MMA veteran. The bout was official stopped at the 3:02 mark in the first round.

It had been three years since Fedor Emelianenko last fought. Rumors about his return began to circulate earlier this year and some thought that maybe, finally, after all these years he would finally enter the UFC’s octagon. Those rumors were put to rest with a rather strange and lackluster announcement on Bellator MMA’s television time. The former PRIDE champion announced that his return would take place in Japan for a brand new organization, Rizin Fighting Federation. After the announcement many in the MMA community were left unsurprised that Fedor would rather take part in a glorified sparring session than face real competition in this stage of his career.

Below is the full fight video of Fedor’s return to action at RIZIN FF 1.