The difference in size, huge excitement and lack of spectators: what you need to know about the fight between Emelianenko and Ismailov at ACA 107

Ismailov's proposal

The idea of ​​holding a fight between Emelianenko and Ismailov appeared in December 2019. Not long before that, Alexander won a boxing fight over Mikhail Koklyaev and became one of the most talked about Russian MMA fighters. Then almost every representative of martial arts considered it his duty to challenge him and try to organize a money duel. The popular middleweight Magomed Ismailov also did this. During an interview with Sport24, he called his future counterpart and offered to meet in a cage.

Initially, this might have seemed like an ordinary PR campaign. However, at the end of the month, the promotion of Absolute Championship Akhmat made an official statement in which they confirmed the battle between Emelianenko and Ismailov. It was decided to arrange the fight on ACA 107, scheduled for April 3.

Effective promotion

One of the hallmarks of the fight between Emelianenko and Ismailov was the level of excitement that surrounded him from the very beginning. This was largely due to the stellar status of both athletes and their immense popularity on social networks. Both have over a million followers on Instagram at the moment, which is a pretty high figure. For comparison, the newly-made belt holder in the lightest category, Peter Jan, is watched by half a million people. The leader in this ranking is Khabib Nurmagomedov (20.9 million).

Throughout the preparatory period, Alexander and Magomed fueled interest in the battle, and one of the brightest events of the first half of the year in Russian MMA was their joint press conference in Moscow. Prior to that, the fighters had repeatedly made harsh jokes on each other on social networks and did not change themselves during the event. Nevertheless, they limited themselves to jokes, but avoided dirty trash-talk and personal transfers, which was highly appreciated by the ACA leadership.

Obstacles to the fight

In March, a coronavirus pandemic was declared in the world, which forced the ACA leadership to postpone the duel with the participation of Emelianenko and Ismailov to July. At certain points, this date did not seem final, and there were rumors in the media that the show could be shifted to fall. But in the end, this scenario was avoided.

At the same time, the promotion still had to make some changes. So, initially ACA 107 was supposed to be held at the VTB Arena in Moscow, but later it was decided to hold it in Sochi. As the president of the league, Alexei Yatsenko, told RT, this helped to minimize costs due to the fact that the previous tournament was also held in this city. As you know, Absolute Championship Akhmat tried to ensure the presence of spectators at the stadium until the last, but in the end it was impossible.

The excitement around the fighters

Despite the planned fight at ACA 107, Alexander continued to receive calls from other athletes, which gave rise to rumors about the organization of three other fights at once. So, back in the spring, information appeared about possible fights between Emelianenko and Vladimir Mineev and Alexander Shlemenko, and in June a duel with Sergei Kharitonov was added to them. In this regard, the leadership of the promotion even had to make an official statement and assure their fans that the PRIDE veteran would not fight a single fight before fighting Ismailov.

Magomed also wasted no time and continued to increase the number of subscribers on social networks. In May, he arranged a playful skirmish with Nikolai Naumov and Alexander Volkov. In an interview, the actor of the series "Real Boys" said that Ismailov would have had little chance in the battle with Emelianenko. The athlete did not like this, who recorded a video message and offered to find out the relationship in the cage. As a result, the UFC fighter stood up for the artist and urged his colleague to treat the opinions of others with respect, but he himself received a portion of barbs from the Bald Predator.

In contrast to this incident, the conflict between Emelianenko and Oleg Taktarov turned out to be real. Alexander was touched by Oleg's statements about the "Wahhabite from the Tsumadinsky region", allegedly addressed to Khabib Nurmagomedov. The PRIDE veteran harshly criticized the actor, not ashamed of insults and reproaching him for hypocrisy. He also noted that the winner of the UFC 6 tournament did not have any impact on the development of Russian MMA.

In response, Taktarov published a cryptic message, noting that on that day "one former soldier died" for him. As in the case with Nurmagomedov, he did not indicate the name of the addressee of the message, but many assumed that it was Emelianenko. Nevertheless, this conflict did not develop.

Confrontation between David and Goliath

The battle between Alexander and Magomed is in demand not only because of the popularity of both fighters. Do not forget about the sports component, because there are more than enough intrigues in this battle. The main one is how the natural middleweight Ismailov will play the first fight in his heavyweight career and whether he will be able to impose a fight on Emelianenko, who is much superior to him in size.

According to official data, the growth of Emelianenko Jr. is 193 centimeters, which is 18 more than Ismailov's. Until now, the most dimensional of Magomed's opponents was the Brazilian Ildemar Alcantara (187 centimeters), known for his performances in the UFC.

Another problem may be weight, with which Ismailov had not previously had to work in a cage. All this can be reflected in his speed, as well as endurance, which he was not famous for before. Suffice it to recall his meeting with Vladimir Mineev. Already in the second round, he slowed down, and in the next three he looked frankly tired.

As for Emelianenko, during his career he only fought twice with fighters less than 180 centimeters tall. But if in 2004 he dealt with Matt Focky, then eight years later he lost to Jeff Monson. The well-known grappling specialist managed to pull the opponent into the ground and there he gave him his trademark painful "north-south" without any problems. Perhaps this could also be the key to victory for Ismailov, who has good wrestling skills.

Emelianenko's superiority

Nevertheless, most experts agree that Emelianenko is the favorite of the fight. In the past few years, he has been in the best physical shape in his entire career and has not lost his boxing skills at all. In this aspect, Alexander still remains one of the strongest domestic representatives of MMA, which is perfectly confirmed by his duels with Gabriel Gonzaga and Victor Peshta.

Despite Ismailov's loud statements, it will be very difficult for him to cope with Emelianenko in the stand. Yes, Magomed showed himself perfectly in a duel with a good drummer Artyom Frolov, but he cannot be put on a par with Alexander.

Ismailov has to do what any fighter who is inferior in height and arm length is trying to crank - to constantly reduce the distance and actively use the clinch. Recently, one of the benchmarks in this aspect is the former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. With the help of such tactics, he dealt with Volkan Ozdemir, and also knocked out Stipe Miocic.

As for the fight, here Ismailov may have an advantage over Emelianenko. The same Tony Johnson Jr. easily transferred Alexander to the flooring, after which he confidently controlled him on the ground. There is no doubt that if Magomed manages to carry out a takedown, he will get a great chance. In this case, he can either use his ground and pound skills, or try to repeat Monson's achievement and win by submission.