"The biggest fight this year": Ismailov will face Shtyrkov in the main fight ACA 115

"You got it, Vanya"

Russian MMA fighter Magomed Ismailov will meet with compatriot Ivan Shtyrkov as part of the ACA 115 tournament, which will be held on December 12.

The fight in the light heavyweight division will be the main event of the evening.

This was reported by the press service of the Absolute Championship Akhmat promotion company.

“The bald predator against the Ural Hulk (nicknames of Ismailov and Shtyrkov. - 

) is the biggest fight this year!

Magomed Ismailov will meet with another big name in the Russian MMA - Ivan Shtyrkov, ”the announcement says.

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Publication from ACA MMA (@aca_mma) Oct 13, 2020 at 2:01 PDT

Shtyrkov is known for his fights in the Russian Cagefighting Championship (RCC), where he competed in the light heavyweight division.

In total, the athlete had 19 fights, the last of which took place at the end of February.

Then he unanimously defeated the Pole Mikhail Pasternak by a unanimous decision.

All in all, he has 17 victories, one draw and one defeat.

It is worth noting that in 2019 Ivan could become a UFC fighter.

However, the promotion had to break the contract with him, as traces of illegal drugs were found in his doping tests.

Ismailov has already become a participant in one of the loudest fights of this year, which aroused great interest not only in MMA, but also outside of them.

In July, he knocked out Alexander Emelianenko, for the sake of meeting with whom he changed the weight category.

He has 17 wins, two defeats and one draw.

The reaction of the fighters to the announcement was not long in coming.

Ismailov was the first to succinctly comment on it on his Instagram page.

“You got it, Vanya,” he said with respect and a sad exhalation, ”wrote Magomed.

In turn, Shtyrkov recalled that both opponents were counting on this meeting.

“We both said for a long time that we wanted to fight.

Now everything is official.

Getting ready for December, "the press service of the fight club" Archangel Michael "quotes him.

Back in December last year, Ivan admitted that he would like to try his hand against Ismailov.

He noted that he respects this fighter, and the promotion could get an interesting confrontation.

At the same time, other names were on the list of potential rivals of Magomed.

So, one of the most likely candidates was named American Chris Honeycutt.

Alexander Shlemenko announced his desire to meet with Ismailov, and Kamil Gadzhiev, promoter of Fight Nights Global, expressed his readiness to organize his revenge with Vladimir Mineev.

The possibility of a second battle with Emelianenko was not excluded.

According to ACA President Alexei Yatsenko, negotiations on the organization of the fight went smoothly, except for difficulties due to the fact that Shtyrkov has a valid contract with the Japanese Rizin.

For this reason, he signed a contract for only one meeting.

The promoter suggested that the meeting would be interesting, because the names of both fighters are now on the floor.

“I would not put cliches that Ivan is not able to arrange great fights and overcome strong rivals.

Although, for sure, after the victory over Emelianenko, Ismailov will be the favorite.

But I consider Shtyrkov to be a very strong rival: he owns wrestling technique, and he has a sambo base.

As the people say, "the bank flies" - it can hit ", - quotes the words of Yatsenko" Sport Express ".

"The battle will not last until the end."

Many representatives of mixed martial arts assumed that Ismailov would easily defeat Shtyrkov due to speed and endurance.

According to ex-Bellator heavyweight champion Vitaly Minakov, this fight could become a serious test for the Ural fighter.

“Shtyrkov needs to add to this, but he stands firmly on his feet and is very powerful.

If Vanya neutralizes Magomed's speed and explosive power, the fight can turn out to be very competitive.

If Maga imposes speed and distance, has room for maneuver, the opponent will face problems, "- quotes Minakov's words" Championship ".

Russian MMA fighter Vyacheslav Vasilevsky also noted that the advantage will be on the side of Ismailov, as he is more functional and works better in the stand.

“Ivan fought great with heavyweights, he did it well.

And with the same Yasubi Enomoto, he was no longer very good at it.

I think Maga will be faster, plus he has improved in striking recently, probably in this component he will also be stronger.

Most likely, the fight will end with a knockout.

And perhaps not in a rack.

Ismailov still translates well and finishes.

Maybe there will be a hit in the standing position and a finishing move on the ground.

In any case, I think that the battle will not last until the end, ”Vasilevsky suggested.

At the same time, Shlemenko did not agree that Ismailov is the sole favorite of the confrontation.

He stressed that a lot will depend on the training of both athletes.

“Each has its own advantages - in terms of dimensions it is on Ivan's side, while Magomed is better in terms of ease of movement.

According to the experience of battles, they are at the same level.

At the moment the chances are 50 to 50, ”Shlemenko suggested.

In addition, he did not compare this fight with the Ismailov - Emelianenko fight, since Shtyrkov has good wrestling skills.

“It will be much more difficult to fence him. Even if Maga can transfer him to the ground, he will spend more energy on this than in a fight with Emelianenko. And holding the position, finishing off in a battle with Vanya will not be so easy. I think the fighters will spend most of their time standing up, ”Shlemenko added.