-

You beat Mark Lemminger

on

Bellator 244.

Was the fight easier than you thought?

- I try not to think about it.

I always prepare for a tough battle so that later nothing will be caught by surprise.

You tune in for an easy fight, and everything will turn out the other way around.

- As a result, the fight was stopped due to a cut at the opponent, which does not happen so often ...

- Speaking of that cut, it appeared in Lemminger's stance.

When we found ourselves on the ground, I understood that if I hit this place, the fight might be stopped.

Therefore, he worked sighting.

- Your plan worked ...

- Yes.

The fight was stopped during the break.

Even when he sat down on a chair, he said to one of the coaches: "It seems to me that there will be no second round."

Even at the end of the first five-minute period, I noticed that the dissection had seriously expanded.

- Were you surprised when Lemminger expressed his willingness to continue?

- Yes a little.

It's not that I was scared.

Just before I saw fighters who were not allowed to go to the second round and with less deep cuts.

But the doctor still stopped the battle.

- Did you feel any dissatisfaction after the end of the duel?

- I felt that I surpassed him both in the standing position and in the stalls.

It is clear that you should always be wary of lucky punch or something sudden.

But I was sure that I could finish the pressure in the second round.

- At the same tournament, Vadim Nemkov became the

Bellator light heavyweight champion, defeating Ryan Bader ...

- I can only congratulate him.

As I said, perhaps he will miss the takedown at the beginning of the fight, but then he will dominate the cage.

And so it happened.

- Before the fight, you said that you consider Lorenz Larkin as the next opponent, but clarified that you have not thought about it yet.

Have you already thought about it?

- Yes.

The main thing is that a victory over a future opponent would help me rise in the ranking.

Lorenz Larkin is great for this.

He is highly rated at Bellator.

It would be great to meet him.

Of course, it would be even more interesting if the welterweight belt was at stake.

He is ready to fight for him with anyone.

But the situation has not yet cleared up.

The reigning champion Douglas Lima is due to face Geghard Musasi, but when is unknown.

- In addition to Larkin, name two fighters with whom you would be interested in a duel now?

- It remains the same John Fitch.

But I would not want someone to say: "I chose an old man for my opponents."

Personally, I don't write it off.

He is still a great fighter.

Watch his fight with Rory MacDonald.

You can't say that the athlete is already 42 years old.

- Anyone else?

- Michael Page is quite high in the rating.

And he's a pretty media guy.

- At the moment, you already have 24 victories in a row in MMA, while you are behaving extremely respectfully.

Don't you think that you can start demanding high-profile battles from the leadership?

- Do you think it's worth starting to swear?

- When Khabib Nurmagomedov had a series of 24 victories in a row, he already demanded with might and main "give him this chicken", speaking of Conor McGregor ...

- I feel so uncomfortable.

Probably, I was brought up differently or I respect my rivals.

I don't want to speak badly about opponents.

We are still doing one thing.

- You are called "Ukrainian Habib".

In the same football, promising athletes often avoid comparisons with their star predecessors, because almost none of the heirs of Pele or Maradona has achieved serious success.

Aren't you afraid of such comparisons?

- Honestly, I didn't think about it.

Now they call them Nurmagomedov, eventually they will start Amosov.

Everything has its time.

Also, I don't think it's a bad comparison.

Khabib has achieved a lot.

- I heard the opinion that you could defeat Nurmagomedov in a full-time duel.

Do you think so?

- Every fighter who believes in himself will say that he will win.

And it is right.

Otherwise, the person has nothing to do in the octagon.

But I don't understand when people jokingly say, "Fight Khabib or Conor."

This is not possible now.

Different weight categories, promotions.

- You have met Khabib several times, but have you seen his father?

- Yes.

We crossed paths at combat sambo tournaments.

And with Khabib himself we had dinner together when he attended a football match in Ukraine.

- What are your impressions of your communication with Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov?

- I can't say that we talked face to face for a long time.

We greeted and exchanged a couple of phrases.

But it was clear that the guys obeyed and believed in him.

He has trained many champions.

This is a big loss for the MMA world.

Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov will be remembered.

- Some people doubted that Khabib would continue his career after his father's death.

Didn't you think so?

- Not.

For some reason, I was sure that Nurmagomedov would continue to perform.

- Earlier, you called Nurmagomedov a favorite in the battle with Ferguson and said that Tony has surrendered a lot lately.

Apparently, you were not surprised by his defeat by Justin Gaethje?

- Not really.

Gaji is an interesting guy.

He has character, he is very strong-willed.

Beats, no matter what.

I like fighters like that.

- Can Gaji be called the most serious rival in Nurmagomedov's career?

- I think Gatji is definitely one of the strongest opponents of Nurmagomedov.

At the moment, Glayson Tibau is considered number one, but that was a long time ago.

- Do you think Gatzhi is able to seriously compete with Nurmagomedov?

- It seems to me that Gatzhi can take over Nurmagomedov.

Therefore, I think that the chances of winning this fight are 75 to 25 in favor of Khabib.

- What would be the ratio in the fight between Nurmagomedov and Ferguson?

- 80 to 20. No matter how Tony tries to spin, Khabib “knits” very well, leaves no freedom.

He always takes one arm or leg, turns off half of the opponent's body.

The same Ferguson would hardly have been so agile on the ground.

- Now they talk a lot about the duel between Nurmagomedov and Georges Saint-Pierre.

The Canadian turned 39 in May.

Not too late?

- I think yes.

It would be interesting to see, but it would be a mistake for Saint-Pierre to agree to such a fight.

Khabib is on the rise and is stylistically very inconvenient for Georges.

The Canadian is a legend, but I don't think he is in his best shape right now.

Going back and losing is not the best option.

Of course, you need to understand who is pursuing what goals.

Someone fights for money, and someone for a name.

- What are the five greatest fighters in the history of MMA?

- Naturally, I will include Fedor Emelianenko among them.

I don't know why people rarely talk about Demetrius Johnson.

Probably few people are interested in flyweight fights, but Mouse is a cool athlete and has defended the belt many times.

I will also name John Jones, Anderson Silva and Henry Sejudo.

- Sehudo is also rarely included in such lists ...

- He has an incredible career - Olympic gold and two UFC championship belts.

I don't think anyone will be able to surpass his achievements in the near future.

- Jones announced the transition to heavyweight.

How do you assess his prospects there?

- Even when I watched his last fight with Dominic Reyes, I noticed that Jones does not look as dry as usual.

Apparently, age takes its toll.

It became harder for him to lose weight.

Now he will gain a little mass and will be able to successfully perform in the heavy category.

- Who would you bet on in the battle between Jones and reigning champion Stipe Miocic?

- On Jones.

I like this guy.

Never crossed paths with him, but was at Jackson Wink Camp.

Yes, John had problems, including with the law, but everyone in the audience spoke very positively about him.

They said that he helps everyone.

- You admitted that you do not often follow the performances of other fighters.

What fight did you remember the most recently?

- There was an interesting fight with Jan.

I know him.

I was sick and worried about him.

I understood that Peter should win, but he knew that the opponent was not a gift.

- Many people think that Jan has come to the bantamweight for a long time.

Do you think any of the Dillashaw, Garbrandt and Sehudo trio could compete with him?

- It seems to me that Garbrandt could not oppose anything to Jan.

At the same time, fights with Dillashaw and Sehudo would be very interesting.

Henry has a good fight, he breathes very well.