(George Galanis is an MMA fan and regular BPL contributor.)

The unthinkable has happened in mixed martial arts: Fedor Emelianenko has lost three fights in a row.

Fedor, once widely recognised as the best fighter MMA had ever seen, was beaten by Dan Henderson, with the American coming from behind in dramatic fashion.

Henderson appeared to be in trouble on the ground, then an instant later he pulled free from Fedor and hit him right on the chin with an uppercut from behind. Fedor went limp and fell face-first to the canvas, and referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the fight.

The entire fight lasted 4 minutes, 12 seconds.

Fedor quickly recovered from the punch that knocked him down and appeared to be defending himself when Dean stepped in. After the fight he said he thought the stoppage was early. Replays showed that Fedor seemed to be out for a moment before coming to, making it a correct decision for Dean to end the fight.

Henderson was elated with one of the biggest wins of his career.

"I've been a huge fan of Fedor's, forever," Henderson said. "I respect him so much as a fighter, what he's done for the sport. For me, that's a huge accomplishment. As a fan of Fedor's, I hope he keeps fighting."

The fight started off at a thrilling pace, with both men landing hard punches in the first few seconds. Henderson had Fedor hurt early, and Fedor clinched to take a breather, which slowed down the pace of the fight. Henderson controlled Fedor against the cage for close to two full minutes before they finally separated, returning to an insane back-and-forth exchange for the rest of the fight.

Fedor landed one of his trademark looping punches to Henderson's head, which seemingly hurt Henderson, and Fedor mounted Henderson on the ground and hit him a couple of times. Henderson brilliantly saw his opening and took it, ending the fight in dramatic fashion.

He may have also ended Fedor's career.

No one ever could have envisioned that Fedor would have lost three in a row, and the questions about his retirement will now only heat up.

All Fedor would say after the fight to those questions was that any decision about his future was in God's hands. On Saturday night, it was Henderson whose hands finished Fedor.