“Kyla didn’t fight with the tops”: Dudakova - about Harrison’s level, Shevchenko’s strength, visa problems and going to the UFC

- On August 30, you will fight with Maria Silva in Dana White's Contender Series, in case of victory in which you can get a contract with the

- A sense of responsibility, anticipation.

The preparation was very long.

I would like to enter the cell as soon as possible.

Plus recently attended the third show of the sixth season of DWCS.

Very spectacular fights.

Seeing this, the desire to fight the most only increases.

How do you prefer to prepare for fights?

Perhaps you are listening to a certain melody or, conversely, are you meditating?

- Basically, upon arrival at the arena, we conduct two warm-ups.

The first is a very long, almost full-fledged workout.

You need to sweat like you spent a whole round.

After that, a little rest.

During this time, I come to my senses, think over a plan for a fight, I can listen to some music.

And then we warm up again.

- Was there a case in your career when you were especially nervous before a fight?

- Basically, I don’t “burn” before the fights.

But there were two cases when I felt the excitement before the fight.

The first time it happened before my debut as a professional, then before the battle for the title of Open FC.

Then we were sitting in the locker room with my coach Gasanali Gasanaliev, warming up.

He noticed that I was nervous, locked me alone in the room and left.

In the end it helped.

I did it, I won.

Although then she went into the cage too calm.

- Before you, many Russians tried their hand at DWCS, and most of them had a solid track record.

Speaking about the selection process, did the representatives of the promotion contact you, or, conversely, did the initiative come from your side?

- This is entirely the merit of the manager.

It was he who negotiated with the promotion, organized the fight.

Only thanks to him I will fight in the tournament.

- Are there any specific conditions that a fighter must fulfill in order to get to the DWCS?

— I think it all depends on the managers.

The participants include not only undefeated fighters, top prospects, but also athletes with defeats.

Matchmakers try to select opponents that are approximately equal in level.

For example, my opponent also never lost.

And on one of the previous shows, girls fought, losing twice.

Of course, the most important thing is to impress White.

And for this it is necessary not only to win, but also to do it ahead of schedule.

If the fight drags on, then only the most spectacular performance will allow you to qualify for a contract.

- Unlike you, Silva not only participated in the DWCS, but also won, although she did not make it to the

- Not.

I wouldn't offer her a contract either.

- Watching that fight, could you imagine that Dana White would enter the octagon and disqualify both participants?

“I don't think White could afford that.

But that would be strong

.

- Did you remember women's fights that you would like to interrupt, as Mairbek Khasiev, the founder of ACA, recently did?

- Sometimes there are not particularly spectacular fights.

For example, the rematch between Rose Namajunas and Carla Esparza.

Personally, I wouldn't even call it a fight.

They may have been overly wary of each other, but by and large they didn't work through all five rounds.

I sat and thought: “Now something will begin, no, a little later.”

But in the end, nothing happened.

• Dudakova about unspectacular women's fights

- Was there a case when you were not able to demonstrate everything you wanted in the cage?

- Yes, my debut fight was also not very spectacular.

I fought with a good grappler, and with such you rarely get something spectacular.

You are afraid that she may hold a reception, so you cuddle up to her.

Yes, sometimes two strong jitsers meet and for some reason decide to fight in a standing position.

But this was clearly not our case.

- As far as I know, you spent the final stage of preparation in the USA.

- Now I am in Las Vegas, but there were certain reasons for that.

Filming takes place before every DWCS show.

It is necessary to take part in the recording of a promo video, a photo session.

Initially, she was supposed to participate in them in early July, but she received a visa late, which is why all events were postponed to August.

We flew here at the beginning of the month and decided to stay and complete the preparations.

Now I train in the Xtreme Couture gym, the manager rented a small house.

There is a small courtyard - we go out onto the veranda, we work.

- Did you come to the USA with a whole team?

— No, with my coach.

- More than one fighter has already admitted that the first training camp in the USA did not go smoothly for them.

The same Peter Yan could not find sparring partners for himself, Rashid Magomedov was not paid attention by

- There are a lot of girls in the gym, there are no problems with sparring partners.

Everyone is very good-natured, ready to work with you, to suggest something.

The point is different.

Hasanali is famous for his hard workouts - 2-2.5 hours in the morning and evening.

Until you "die", he will not let you go.

Here everything is a little different.

Classes are lighter - a maximum of an hour and a half.

Plus, many girls come only once a day, for example, in the afternoon.

Forced to adapt.

- How does Gasanaliev react to this?

“He is never satisfied.

Even if I did a good job, he will find something to criticize for.

He will say: "Not bad, but you can do better."

Many thought that upon arrival in the United States, Hasanali would understand how hard he was chasing us and would become a little more tolerant.

However, it didn't work.

Seeing how things were going here, he said: “Do you think they have one training session?

If they don’t come to the second one, then they are working on it somewhere else.”

• Dudakova about Extreme Couture

- Many famous female fighters train in

- Casey O'Neal, who competes in the UFC in the flyweight category, The Ultimate Fighter winner Tatiana Suarez, former champion Misha Tate.

In fact, I'm surprised how many stars are here now, although Las Vegas is not as convenient a city for training as Miami.

However, both Algemain Sterling and Cody Garbrandt are currently involved.

- Did you manage to exchange a couple of phrases with the same Sterling?

- Algemain even knows a few words in Russian, and good ones too

.

How easy is it to adapt to new conditions?

After all, this is your first trip to the United States, as far as I understand.

- Moreover, for the first time I left my native hall.

Usually they don’t let me go anywhere, I am always with Hasanali.

Without his approval, I can’t go anywhere to the training camp under the guidance of another mentor.

Here we also worked together, either in pairs or with American specialists.

In general, no difficulties arose.

Everyone was willing to get in touch.

It was hard except without a bank card that can be used in the United States.

Because of this, they could not order a taxi, for example.

We rented a car, but we can't pay for parking.

- Given the current situation in the world, was there any tension in communicating with foreign fighters?

- Absolutely not.

Of course, the language barrier gets in the way a bit.

But everyone treats us very well.

There are no problems not only in the hall, but also in other places - cafes, supermarkets.

- Many Russian fighters are now unable to obtain a visa to enter the United States.

How difficult was the procedure in your case?

— It was very difficult.

We signed a contract with a manager in June 2021.

Even then, he said: there is an opportunity to either fight at the DWCS, or immediately in the UFC.

Then I had a record of 3-0, in a month I had to fight with Kseny Lachkova.

We thought to hold this fight and skip the Open FC Grand Prix final.

But after the fight with Lachkova, the mentor said: “We have obligations to the promotion that must be fulfilled.

We can't just leave.

We need to take part in the final and pick up the belt.”

As a result, I won, became the champion, and in November negotiations resumed.

After the difficulties began, a difficult situation arose in the world.

- How was it resolved?

— In my opinion, the Almighty gives the way.

In one moment, everything turned out abruptly.

I was supposed to have a fight at Ural FC then.

I just held a press conference, and after it the manager writes to me, says: “In three days you have an interview in Istanbul.

Get ready."

We cancel the fight and fly for a visa.

Everything worked out very quickly.

• Dudakov about obtaining a visa

- In our country as a whole, there are not so many venues where girls can consistently perform.

And Yana Kunitskaya even expressed the opinion that Russian women need to leave for the USA in order to be able to succeed in MMA.

Do you agree?

“Really, it’s not easy.

But I have a very good coach who helps me in everything.

Thanks to Hasanali, I made my debut at the Fight Nights Global tournament, although before that women had not fought there for two years.

And the second fight took place in GFC.

Therefore, in my case, everything was not so difficult.

- There are many examples in men's MMA when athletes built a successful career in their homeland and became stars.

The same Magomed Ismailov, Vladimir Mineev.

Is it possible for a girl to achieve this?

- Not.

I think that in the next 5-10 years a girl fighter will not appear in Russia who can become a star of the caliber of Ismailov or Marif Piraev.

We still have stereotypes that a woman's place is in the kitchen.

But I believe that many men will look at girls with pleasure if they are trained enough.

- So it's still about stereotypes or about the level of women's MMA in Russia?

“I think it’s about craftsmanship first and foremost.

In the same Fight Nights, they stopped holding women's fights, because there were fighters on the card who were not able to demonstrate anything in the cage.

It happens that I myself hardly watch some fights - even if there are familiar names among the participants.

On the other hand, there is Valentina Shevchenko.

Who refuses to watch her?

- In your opinion, who is the strongest female fighter in the world right now?

Probably Shevchenko.

She is at the top now.

At the same time, there are many talented girls who may not have time to get to her.

The same Suarez is a talent.

The winner of the world championships in freestyle wrestling, which could become a champion in both the lightest and lightest divisions.

But her injuries won't let her.

What about Amanda Nunez?

I like her as a fighter.

You can remember her fights with Holly Holm and Cris Cyborg.

There she showed incredible skill.

But she became a mother, I think it became more difficult for her to continue performing at the same level.

The child does not sleep at night, requires attention and time.

And it affected her.

The last fights were not so spectacular, she did not show anything extraordinary in them.

Perhaps it has to do with other aspects as well.

For example, age, yet she is no longer young.

- Over the past few years, the current PFL champion Kayla Harrison

“Harrison is a world-class judoka, but MMA is different.

She has absolutely no percussion technique.

Yes, there is physical strength, in the fight with Marina Mokhnatkina there were a couple of pickups.

But she did not meet with top rivals.

The same Nunez defeated the strongest - everyone who was possible.

Kayla didn't fight with tops.

• Dudakova on Kyle Harrison

- In this regard, can Harrison be compared with Ronda Rousey?

She was also a rather limited fighter, but also a very popular one.

- Of course, Harrison is a PFL project.

But I don't know how far it will go.

I think she will remain in this promotion.

But comparing her with Rousey is not entirely correct.

After all, it was Ronda who formed the female direction in MMA.

Thanks to her, many girls began to engage in mixed martial arts, including me.

Now I understand that Rousey was a project, and from the tricks she had only an elbow lever.

But she could hold him from absolutely any position.

Although everyone was preparing to fight her, they knew about her strengths.

But she still got it.

In addition, Ronda knew how to "sell" herself, and this is also very important.

Rousey and Harrison are from the same sport, more one-sided fighters than they appear now.

Now the majority is not only engaged specifically in mixed martial arts, but also has an amateur school behind them.

What does she give?

- In my opinion, amateur performances are needed so that the fighter does not burn, feels his level.

For example, the girls with whom I fought as professionals are much weaker than those with whom I met at the championships of Russia, Europe and the world.

But athletes like Rousey and Harrison also have a lot of experience.

Yes, they may be a little one-sided, but that's only because they don't develop in other ways.

When I started doing MMA, I could only do armbar.

Thought I'd see it off to everyone like Rousey.

But no, that won't work.

At my first Russian Championship, they showed me that it doesn't work.

Then I became the second.

After that, I realized: you need to develop, you can’t be focused on one technique.

You can not go in cycles, because you reduce your horizons to a minimum.

- Recently, many talented female fighters have appeared in Russia - Tatyana Postarnakova, Daria Pirogova.

Should we expect their mass transition to professionals in the context of the ban on Russians to compete in international amateur competitions?

- Undoubtedly.

Postarnakova is already preparing for the transition to professionals.

As far as I know, she did not even want to enter the Russian Championship this year, but they could not find a rival for her debut, so she nevertheless took part.

Malika Kuchaeva is likely to follow her example, and many others.

Nobody wants to wait another year, wondering if they can fight or not.

- But in Russia, there are not many promotions involved in women's fights.

Is there enough space for everyone?

- Now there is Ural FC, Open FC, AMC Fight Nights is going to hold the Grand Prix.

Yes, the situation is different for amateur men.

They really may not have enough space, but there are not so many girls.