“Alexander is not going through the best years of his career”: Bichuev about COVID-19, the form of Emelianenko and his sparring with Kadyrov

- ACA management announced the postponement of the match between Alexander Emelianenko and Magomed Ismailov. How much did this surprise you?

“We were ready for that.” Everyone understands what the situation is now - in many countries they refused to hold public events. Therefore, they realized that sooner or later it would reach us. You must understand that this does not depend on the leadership of the ACA, but on the authorities of the country. We can only wait.

- How did Alexander react to this news?

- This did not please anyone. In addition to Emelianenko, a number of fighters are training at the Akhmat club, who were supposed to perform at ACA 107. Each of them has already completed the main part of the training, there was only a systematic summing up of the body for the fight.

- In this regard, the training camp is suspended, or will you continue to train with Alexander?

- Emelianenko will receive a short respite, after which he will return to the hall. At the same time, we will significantly reduce the load, since it is impossible to keep the athlete at the peak for such a time. We can say that Alexander will keep in shape.

- How do you react to the situation with the coronavirus pandemic?

- I prefer to analyze the statistics, according to which you can track the number of infected and dead due to any infection. Based on them, we can conclude that there are much more terrible diseases in the world, from which much more people die. This may include tuberculosis, hepatitis, HIV, the same flu.

“However, the coronavirus pandemic caused a real panic ...”

- Indeed, the picture is very unfavorable. It feels like the world is frozen.

- In your opinion, is the reaction of people justified?

- I think that it was not worthwhile to breed such a panic. See how actively people began to stock up on goods. But how much can you hold out on them? A week? Two? It will not give anything.

- Do you give any advice to the fighters of the Akhmat club so that they avoid infection?

- First of all, observe the rules of personal hygiene. For example, we wash at least five times a day. It is also worth staying at home more often. Currently, people need to do everything possible to protect not only themselves, but also their loved ones.

- In the USA, because of the coronavirus, they temporarily closed the AKA camp ( American Kickboxing Academy) in San Jose, in which Khabib Nurmagomedov was preparing for a fight with Tony Ferguson. Club Akhmat is not going to suspend work?

- We dismissed two shifts, limited the number of visitors, as a result of which a crowd of people would not gather in the hall. Now a maximum of 5-10 people are training at the same time, and they do it at a fairly large distance. The fighters are engaged in maintaining themselves in good shape. In general, the functioning of the hall is practically suspended.

- Emelianenko himself did not say that he was afraid of becoming infected?

- No.

- During the suspension of the camp, will Emelianenko be free to go home or will the club management insist that he stay in Chechnya?

- Initially, he planned to fly to Moscow, but then changed his mind and decided to stay in Grozny. According to him, this is the best and safest place to wait out the coronavirus epidemic.

- In what form is Emelianenko now?

- Alexander has the ability to quickly bring his body into proper condition. No matter how he launches himself, he quickly takes shape. Emelianenko has vast experience, he feels great, which allows him to avoid overtraining.

- About two months ago, Emelianenko was detained in Anapa, and after a press conference in Moscow he immediately went to work with you. What form was he in then?

- In not the most favorable, but I can not say that he was a wreck. Largely due to the fact that he recently had a fight with Mikhail Koklyaev. Therefore, we did not have to spend months collecting it.

View this Instagram post

Publication by Alexander Emelianenko (@alexemelyanenko) Mar 10, 2020 at 6:34 am PDT

- Everyone knows that in his free time Emelianenko periodically drinks alcohol. How much does this affect his physical condition?

- I do not think that he has such a strong addiction to alcohol, as everyone believes. When he trained at Akhmat, he did not express a desire to drink. I think his environment spoils. When drunk people walk around, acquaintances offer 50 grams - it all starts with this. But there is no such thing. Next to him, the guys who play sports, lead the right lifestyle.

- He did not say why he decided to return to Akhmat?

- A few years ago, Emelianenko noted that the club has all the conditions for training, and there are sparring partners not only of any height and weight, but also of style. In addition, we do not have such that the coach is absent. Alexander himself said that there was no better place for him in terms of classes. No one dragged him here by force.

- What else does he like so much in Grozny?

- Nothing distracts him from the work process here. Moreover, he has many friends here with whom he can go for tea in a restaurant or relax in a sauna on a day off.

- How does the diet of Emelianenko change in order to get in shape as soon as possible?

- He practically does not need to lose weight. Of course, in between battles, he is gaining a little, but all this goes away in the process of preparation. On average, he loses about six kilograms, just getting in shape. Yes, he has to give up fried foods and sweets, add more protein. But in general, he continues to eat in a rather comfortable mode.

- Throughout his career, Emelianenko was called one of the most gifted Russian fighters. Could you say that this is the most talented athlete with whom you had to work?

- Now in Russia there are a lot of talented guys, and Emelianenko is definitely one of them.

- Could you name someone more or less equal in level of talent with Emelianenko?

- The club “Akhmat” has quite promising athletes, but I would mention Magomed Bibulatov. But you need to understand that MMA is very actively developing. At one time, Emelianenko was definitely among the strongest fighters in the world.

- ACA champion Mukhumat Vakhayev said that Emelianenko is extremely hardy and can jump rope or work with dumbbells for an hour. This is true?

- Yes it's true. It’s not a problem for Alexander to work on the bag for an entire hour or take the bar and do 1000 repetitions in the bench press. This is incredibly hard work. I myself would not have the patience to train in this mode.

- Alexander himself admitted that he loves sparring at training camps with a full calculation and without protection. It's true?

- I always recommend that my wards take not only high-quality gloves, but also not to forget about helmets. If a person receives daily on the head, then over time it may begin to affect. Also, in preparation for the fight during the week, we arrange a couple of hard sparring. Some athletes prefer to conduct them without protection.

- In 2017, Emelianenko was knocked down during a sparring with welterweight Arbi Madayev. Were you in the hall then?

- Yes, this is a working moment. In place of Emelianenko, Madayev himself could have appeared.

- Often sparring are so stubborn that one of the athletes is on the floor?

- No. In my memory over the past six years there have been only two cases.

- In MMA, they often talk about such a factor as the “penetration” of an athlete, when numerous knockdowns and missed hits are added up, as a result of which he becomes more susceptible to hits. In this regard, Emelianenko is not afraid to become like the same Andrei Orlovsky?

“Any missed strike is not good for you.” Personally, I advise the children to visit a neurologist, psychologist, carry out prophylaxis, dig in. Everyone must take care of themselves. Those who trained in the boxing rooms will understand me perfectly. In preparation for the battles, real logging takes place there.

- Emelianenko very closely communicates with the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. Does contact with him benefit Alexander?

- Of course. Do you really see so many leaders of the country's regions who visit the halls so often, follow the training and provide such assistance? Ramzan Akhmatovich is in good relations with Alexander, helps him in every possible way. He certainly will not wish bad Emelianenko.

- Does Kadyrov advise Emelianenko or maybe even criticize?

- Ramzan Akhmatovich devotes a lot of time to martial arts. At one time, he literally held training camps with the boxers of the Chechen Republic. As for MMA, Kadyrov regularly watches fights and does not miss a single local tournament. Therefore, it can give good advice, to see what I myself did not notice. You understand, if a person watches fights for a very long time, then he begins to understand what's what. And especially if he trains.

- As far as we know, recently Emelianenko sparred boxing with Kadyrov. How did he go?

- I was not present at this training, but I saw photos. It can be seen that the exchange of blows was pretty tough.

- Alexander himself rather evasively answered about this experience in a recent interview. Did Ramzan Akhmatovich set the heat for him?

- For Kadyrov, sparring is a common thing. He repeatedly participated in such and always demanded that they work with him with the maximum calculation.

- After the fight with Mikhail Koklyaev, Kadyrov challenged Emelianenko and offered him a fight according to boxing rules. Who do you think would win?

- It's hard to answer. The one who would be the first to miss. But if this fight were scheduled, I’m sure that Kadyrov would have spent a huge amount of work. From my own experience I can say that this is not Koklyaev (laughs) .

- Throughout his career, Alexander has always been compared with his brother Fedor and noted that he surpasses his older brother in a combination of talent and physical data. Do you agree?

- I didn’t personally work with Fedor, which makes it difficult for me to evaluate their fighting skills. But the main thing is that they are brothers. Therefore, there should not be rivalry between them.

- With the proper approach, would Alexander be able to reach the heights that Fedor had?

- Alexander also achieved a lot.

- But Emelianenko Sr. still has a higher status ...

- I did not recognize Fedor as the best fighter in history or the Last Emperor. This has made the global MMA community. Apparently, there were reasons for this.

- At one time, Alexander said that he considers himself a fighter of the top 3 UFC level . Do you agree?

- Sure.

- In your opinion, if Emelianenko got into the UFC, could he have achieved the right to fight for the title?

- Nature takes its toll. Now he is not going through the best years of his career. He is not 25-30 years old. Speed, stamina, and alertness are gradually fading. However, it cannot be said that in the first two aspects Emelianenko thoroughly lost, but the body wears out anyway. But if you consider it in its heyday, why not?

- One of the main problems of Alexander has always been considered the inability to resist takedowns. However, many experts agree that his future opponent Ismailov is able to defeat Emelianenko if he can tighten it to the floor. How are you going to counteract this?

- Alexander is working on the ability to get up from the stalls, knit an opponent, and prevent him from inflicting many blows. Moreover, earlier we could already observe his ability to rise to his feet from the stalls. In the last battles, he repeatedly did this, after which he actively looked in the rack. In addition, in MMA, it’s not enough just to overwhelm an opponent on the ground. Now for this they do not give victory. You must be active on the floor.

- Many talk about Ismailov’s high speed. Is this really so?

- He has very fast hands. But any coach will confirm that in this aspect Emelianenko is unlikely to yield to Ismailov. In addition, Alexander is very hard hit.

- But Ismailov was fast in middle weight, and now he has gained about 20 kg. Will he remain as swift in the heavy?

- I think these 20 kg will not play in his favor. He should not have done this, because it can affect the functional state, speed.

- Do you think the postponement of the match is almost three months more convenient for Emelianenko or Ismailov?

“I think it certainly won’t hurt Alexander.”

- At the moment, the situation with coronavirus is only getting worse. Do you think the battle will take place in July?

- If the state cancels the holding of mass events up to a certain date, then it has an understanding in this regard. If he were not there, then the tournament would be postponed indefinitely. Some work is being done to deal with coronavirus.