Emelianenko - on defeats to Bigfoot and Henderson: "There were certain reasons of psychological nature"

Legendary MMA heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko spoke about the reasons behind his defeats against Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Dan Henderson in 2011.

"There were certain reasons of a psychological nature, the pressure was heavy. The defeats came when my ex-wife Marina was pregnant with our daughter, Liza. Let's just say - as soon as the medical examinations came, every office was shouting, "Abortion!" Everywhere we went, the answer was the same. Marina had a minor medical condition.

"Certain experiences - plus there were other difficult life situations - led to defeats. Everywhere we went, no matter what doctors we were advised... It got to the ridiculous: Marina goes to the doctor, the doctor takes her card and starts shouting: "Abortion!"

And then the doctor asked: "Who are you here to see?" Marina replied, "Well, so and so, to such and such a doctor." And in her response: "Oh, that's for you in another office, go away." A pregnant woman, I went with her everywhere. I had to suffer a lot, I was scared. God made it so that we had a healthy baby girl, Marina, too, thank God, recovered.

"Everything is all right. When I flew out to fight Henderson, Marina was in labor, she went into labor. My whole stay in America was brightened up by certain tones. The girl was born healthy, thank God, but Marina had a hard time recovering from the operation, after a cesarean.

"Then I re-watched those fights. It was hard for me, not even from the defeats. It was a shame that the people who were around me, traveling with me, swore an eternal friendship, suddenly sang a different song - all as one. They wanted to take me to witches for a reading, to fortune-tellers. I had to urgently clean up my surroundings," said Emelianenko.