“Do not idealize him, he’s a maniac”

Russian MMA fighter Dmitry Smolyakov explained his words to the scandalously famous compatriot Alexander Emelianenko. He admitted that he made a statement in a state of passion.

“As for threats with knives, pistols and so on, this is not about me and does not look like me. I am not even inclined to this. I'm not going to pursue his story in this plane. If we have further dialogue, then not in such a gangster way. But that is not the point now. The main thing is to clarify that it was in a state of passion, ”Smolyakov said in an interview with the MMA Vestnik Youtube channel.

In addition, he said that for some time he would refrain from public statements and communication on social networks.

“The most important thing is that I don’t want to deal with the person who caused all this to happen. History has gone too far. I analyzed all the dialogues, had a series of conversations. This is far from a joke. This is not permissible. We went too far. There is no sport, no idea, nothing, ”added Smolyakov.

The beginning of the conflict between the two MMA fighters was an interview with Smolyakov, in which he spoke about the events of November last year. Then Emelianenko, intoxicated, allegedly went into one of the supermarkets and began to threaten with firearms. According to him, the eminent athlete managed to avoid not only a major scandal, but also criminal punishment solely due to the intercession by influential people who, among other things, managed to extract recordings from CCTV cameras.

The reaction of Emelianenko was not long in coming. He sharply denied the accusations against him, stated that he was not familiar with the Smolyakov fighter, and called him a “rooster”.

The conflict could have been settled on this, but the ex-UFC representative gave a new interview in which he spoke about more serious offenses by the opponent. In particular, he accused Emelianenko of numerous rape episodes.

“You raped a huge number of women. Do not idealize him, he is really a maniac. At least one statement fell upon him every week, and he lived in St. Petersburg for a year, can you imagine how much he raped there, ”Smolyakov said.

He claimed that his information was also known to UFC fighter Alexei Oleinik. He refuted his words and stated that he was well related to both Emelianenko and Smolyakov, but the second one was "thickening the colors."

It is worth noting that in 2014 the Investigative Committee did indeed open a criminal case against Emelianenko on charges of raping a housekeeper. The court found the athlete guilty and sentenced him to 4.5 years in prison. A year later, the fighter was released on parole.

After the second interview with Smolyakov, Dmitry Zabolotny, two-time world champion in combat sambo, made a similar accusation. On his Instagram page, he said that Emelianenko repeatedly allowed himself to molest women, and also complained that he was getting away with it.

“This man is dangerous for society, tomorrow he will attack someone's wife, sister, daughter. A fist has been crying over him for a long time. I think he has not yet been grabbed by the tongue out of respect for Fedor Vladimirovich (elder brother Emelianenko. - RT ), ”wrote Zabolotny.

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Publication by Dmitry Zabolotny (@ sambo_39) Feb 8, 2020 @ 2:32 am PST

At the moment, Emelianenko has not reacted in any way to the challenge from Smolyakov, or to subsequent attempts to justify himself.

“I decided to make a name for myself”

Despite the ambiguous reputation of Emelianenko, many in the world of martial arts sided with him. So, the ex-MMA fighter Oleg Taktarov suggested that Smolyakov decided to become famous due to the blackening of a more famous athlete.

“I do not know who Smolyakov is. No one decided to make a name for themselves, a standard story. Every week someone calls me somewhere. It’s just humiliating to react to it, ”Sport24 quotes Taktarova.

In turn, the Russian kudo champion Marat Aliaskhabov also supported Emelianenko and called Smolyakov to the battle.

“I’ve known Dmitry since 2011 and I know who he is: how he bought fights, how he made his way to the UFC, how they kicked him out in disgrace. A disgusting person. And this man manages without shame and conscience to talk about such athletes as Alexander Emelianenko. This outraged me, ”Aliashabov admitted.

At the same time, ex-Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko, who is well acquainted with Smolyakov, holds a different point of view. He emphasized that he only wanted to teach a lesson to an opponent known for his ambiguous reputation.

“I don’t argue, maybe Dima said all this on emotions. Going into the forest ... It is illegal. And it is not customary to talk about this publicly. But in his words there are many true moments. If a person is healthy and has some kind of physical strength, and even offends the weak, including forcing them ... Stronger guys should stand up for it, for honor, ”said Shlemenko.

Kamil Gadzhiev, president of the Russian Fight Nights Global promotion, also responded to the conflict. He expressed his readiness to arrange a meeting between the fighters, if both agree to this.

“Let them fight! But you need to understand who in what form, in what condition Smolyakov, and whether he can compete with Emelianenko in order to really make him answer for his words. Well, is Sasha ready to take fights now? From what I see now - while he is not focused on fighting. Therefore, I am inclined to the fact that everything will remain in the format of Youtube-showdown, ”said Gadzhiev.

Shlemenko also spoke about the possible outcome of the confrontation. He suggested that Emelianenko be his favorite, but much will depend on his physical readiness.

“If he remains in the guise of a bad guy and intends to live a criminal romance, then it seems to me that Smolyakov will not be difficult to repeat what Dmitry Sosnovsky once did - to transfer him to the ground, to mark the finishing, and Alexander himself will knock and surrender,” - suggested Shlemenko.