Emelianenko (photo via M-1 Global.com)

By FCF Staff

2012 will evidently go down as the year two of the Emelianenko brothers retired from MMA, as Aleksander has announced he’s also done fighting, several months after his older brother Fedor confirmed his retirement.

The 31 year-old Aleksander, who is coming off  a North-South Choke loss to Jeff Monson in November, announced his decision today via his Facebook account. The Russian heavyweight reportedly cited “health problems caused by old injuries” as the reason for his decision.

The announcement might have caught some by surprise, due to the fact that Emelianenko had won four straight bouts prior to fighting Monson at a M-1 Global event last month.

During his near decade long career, Aleksander competed for organizations like PRIDE, BoDog Fight and Pro FC, and scored wins over established fighters like Sergei Kharitonov, Miodrag Petkovic, Ricardo Morais and Dan Bobish.

Emelianenko retires having put together a 21-6 record.

The 34 year-old Fedor announced his retirement in June after knocking out Pedro Rizzo.