- Amir Aliakbari played with you at one ONE FC tournament, with whom you will face off in May. Moreover, the Iranian fought in the main duel despite the fact that he already had a defeat in the passive, and you were undefeated. Isn't it offensive?
- I understand everything clearly.
After all, he has two million subscribers.
I think now many do not even go to Sherdog - they immediately go to Instagram and see how many followers a particular athlete has.
Probably, ONE FC considers Aliakbari to be a more interesting media fighter.
Perhaps they underestimate me a little.
But we must pay tribute to Amir's compatriots - they are tearing my Direct.
They write obscenities, mention mom and sister ... I did not expect this.
I always thought that Iranians are men, but after such actions it is difficult to do it.
I would never write that to anyone myself.
As for subscribers, things are much more complicated with us.
Let's take the same Sasha Volkov.
This is a top-tier fighter who is in the top five in the heavyweight division and is vying for the UFC belt.
And he doesn't even have a million fans.
Moreover, people tell him that he is a bag, that he cannot fight.
Guys, wake up.
- At the same time, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Magomed Ismailov, Zubair Tukhugov have no problems with subscribers ...
- I am leading to this.
Dagestanis, Azerbaijanis, Iranians - very much support their children, drown for each other.
See what's going on at ACA events.
The same Tajiks are simply tearing apart.
Any fighter will be pleased.
Someday we will also come to this, but so far they basically say: "He is weak, he was lucky" and the like.
Of course, I would like everything to change.
And our guys were rooting for you not only when you win, but also when you stumble.
- Is it a matter of mentality or do our fans need more compelling reasons to start supporting the fighter? For example, the
UFC title
or the charisma of the same Ismailov?
- Let's consider this situation.
On one side of the scale we will have Volkov - a family man who leads a decent lifestyle, shows a good example, plays in the best league in the world.
On the other - Alexander Emelianenko.
Its complete opposite.
See what's going on in the comments under his Instagram posts: “Sanya, you're handsome.
We are for you.
You are just like us. "
Few write to him that he misbehaves.
But children are looking at him.
When you are a fighter of this level, then responsibility is on your shoulders.
- I understand what you are driving at ...
- Therefore, our people are more interested in watching Emelianenko: how hard it is for him, how he cannot find himself in life.
Probably, some people look at him and think that everything is fine with them too.
They, too, can drink in the evening, fight, raise their hand against their wife.
It's a mystery to me why a bad example is better perceived in our country.
After all, we have the same Valentin Moldavsky, Vadim Nemkov.
A man holds a Bellator belt, constantly conducts master classes, communicates with the younger generation.
And there are less than 100 thousand subscribers.
- So what is the reason?
- Success is not very popular in Russia.
No, to say: “Vadik, you are great.
Now we will also go to the gym to train. "
Everything is different with us.
In my native Kemerovo, it's scary to go out into the street.
We have a nine-story building, a dozen entrances - there are only four pubs in it.
And within a radius of 300 meters - about seven.
Therefore, in the evening I go to the gym, and the guys with whom I studied together go for a beer.
You have to do something about this.
We have a playground next to our house, but in summer children cannot get there.
Mat, screams, bottles are flying.
- You have now literally applied to join the team of Alexander Shlemenko.
- Sanya is great.
But he says that you shouldn't drink alcohol at all.
I believe that sometimes you can drink wine with your wife, but without fanaticism.
Not so that you feel ashamed in front of your children.
Still, parents are the main example for them.
Personally, in 33 years of my life, I have never seen my father or mother drunk.
Therefore, there is nothing to hope for Vladimir Vladimirovich.
We must start with ourselves.
- I think you saw the state of Emelianenko during his visit to the
ACA tournament
.
Do you think he will resume his career?
- Honestly, Emelianenko's condition scared me a lot.
He reminded of a man after a stroke.
In short, he looked clearly unhealthy.
Let's see how they whisper and drip.
Now in Russia the era of freak fighting, hype is coming.
Therefore, Emelianenko will be in demand, but with whom will he fight?
Of course, he will drop people like Djigan.
It is not clear what these guys think.
Whatever Sanya is, he is an athlete.
Therefore, I would not advise looking at the fact that he is out of shape.
He has enough health to deal a lot of damage to them.
But it's not worth fighting on the same level with me, Volkov, Nemkov, Goltsov.
At the professional level, Emelianenko has nothing to do.
- Did the fight with Ismailov show this clearly?
- Without a doubt.
He couldn't do anything with the middleweight.
But then he was loaded to capacity, was in good shape.
Thanks to the Akhmat club for bringing him to that fight.
But now he failed them.
I don't think that Ramzan Akhmatovich and the team representatives will be so kind to him.
Personally, I would like Alexander to just lead a normal life.
I do not believe that such a strong person in this great country cannot defeat a bottle.
I know that Emelianenko has someone to live for - he has a family, a daughter, and a mother in good health.
I don't understand why he can't find motivation.
She is around him.
- Returning to the future fight with Aliakbari, what can you say about his fighting qualities?
- Perhaps I underestimate Amir a little, but ONE FC overestimates him.
Yes, he is big, formidable, but not fast, and his jaw is completely glass.
In 2016, Mirko Filippovich poked him a little, and he immediately collapsed.
In addition, I was pushing with Kang Ji Won (the Korean fighter who knocked out the Iranian at the tournament in February), I understand how physically strong he is.
The Korean is now 25 years old - for a heavy weight, this is a child.
Everything is just beginning for him.
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Publication from ANATOLIY MALYKHIN (@anmalykhin)
- Even before the end of the fight with Machado, you announced that you would fight Aliakbari.
- By and large, I almost immediately signed two contracts - for fights with Machado and Aliakbari.
I think Amir himself did the same.
Apparently, ONE FC assumed that he would drop the Korean, but it turned out differently.
- If not for your leg injury, the fight would have taken place at the end of April. The last time you fought twice in a month was in 2019 - first you beat Jake Hune and then you knocked out Alexei Kudin. Then did you feel like you were
in perfect shape for the
Fight
Nights
Global tournament
?
- I don't know what the reason is, but then I was very often sick - almost before every fight.
Few people know that before the fight with Hune, he could not get out of bed for a week - he was lying with a cold, with an inhaler, temperature 39 ° C.
My beloved pumped me out.
Only two days before the tournament I managed to rise.
But in the battle with Kudin he felt very good.
- Few fighters agree to enter the cage after such a short pause. Recently, Khamzat Chimayev, who fought three times in 66 days, has become most famous for this. Would you like to try to beat his achievement in the future?
- I already surpassed his record when I performed at the amateur level.
Then he spent three or four fights a day with the tops, leaders of the Russian MMA.
This is the ex-champion of the ACA Evgeny Goncharov, and another representative of the league Salimgerey Rasulov.
Khamzat, what?
He spent three fights with no one
knows
who
(laughs)
.
I remember that in Tomsk I fought three times a day - already professionally.
In my opinion, I received 20 or 30 thousand rubles for this.
- That is, sometimes it is possible and frequent?
- Everything depends on the opposition.
Chimaev is a good fighter, of a very high level.
He could beat those opponents in one week.
But I don’t pretend to be his record.
Unless I want to wish him good health.
Like me, he suffered from COVID-19.
We were ill at about the same time, but he still cannot move away.
Coronavirus is very dangerous and hits athletes hard.
Therefore, I hope that Khamzat will recover and shoot again.
I would not want it to end this way for him.
- Now Chimaev has a difficult period. He announced his retirement, but later he was literally persuaded to return. What do you think was the reason for this behavior?
- As I said, this disease creeps into my head.
The most serious apathy up to a suicidal state.
If not for my wife, who was always by my side ... For the first month, you simply cannot do anything, you do not want anything.
You are just a shadow.
So I was in Khamzat's shoes and I understand what he went through.
At these moments, close ones should be nearby, a lot depends on them.
Now Chimaev flew to Ramzan Kadyrov.
I think they will find doctors and help him.
- What do you think, if you defeat Aliakbari in May, how close will you get to the status of the first contender for the
ONE
FC title
?
- I think after that I will have to play one more fight in the summer, and by the end of the year it will be possible to ask for an opportunity to fight for the title.
If Brandon Vera is in the mood, he would like to try his hand.
As for the opponents, there is Umar Kane, who is considered the best fighter from Africa.
In the last fight, he defeated Alan Ngalani.
If I win against Aliakbari, I would like to fight him.
- In Russia, many fighters do not pay special attention to champion titles. The same Magomed Ismailov admitted that he was not interested in the
ACA
belts . Would you like to win the title in
ONE
FC?
- One way or another, we all come to fight for the belt.
He is always owned by the best fighter in the organization, so my task is to become the champion of ONE FC.
As for Magomed, I don't know why he didn't want to fight for the title.
In the ACA, a very strong athlete (Salamu Abdurakhmanov) owns the middleweight belt.
Besides, the belt itself is a very beautiful thing.
During that tournament, I managed to hold the ONE FC trophy.
I saw him, touched him and realized - such a thing should hang at the daddy in the village.
In addition, the champion receives completely different money.
Nobody wants to work for a penny.