The defeat of Alexander Shlemenko from Alexander Ilich confirmed that in the world of mixed martial arts there is always a place for surprises.
The ex-Bellator champion was considered a clear favorite and also fought at home.
The Serb, on the other hand, seemed to be an easy opponent, a kind of warm-up before the December confrontation with Magomed Ismailov.
The peak of the athlete, nicknamed the Joker, was a performance in the Polish organization KSW and a championship belt in the little-known MF Megdan Fighting, and in the last four fights before the fight in Yekaterinburg, he suffered three defeats.
And therefore, a hard knockout after a knee strike caused a real shock and gave fans a reason to talk about the imminent retirement of a Russian.
The MMA veteran was immediately remembered for his unconvincing victories over Artur Huseynov and Marcio Santos last year.
Colleagues were not left out.
So, Sergei Kharitonov complained that Storm had been talking to journalists too often lately, but did little.
Vyacheslav Vasilevsky suggested that with age he lost his main quality - a strong head.
And even Ivan Shtyrkov, who treats Shlemenko with great respect, could not resist criticism.
“When you go out hungry, charged, it gives you the motivation to tune in and give it your all.
And when you come out only on experience, on skill, on a name, and there is no this hunger, no matter how hard you force yourself in your head, you don’t succeed.
And this affects the training process - you no longer give yourself to work.
This is a huge layer of psychology that ... affects the result, ”the fighter emphasized.
Of course, Alexander should heed these tips and draw conclusions from an unfortunate failure.
However, it should not be given too much importance.
It is obvious that the Russians were simply unlucky.
In fact, one successful knee hit in the first seconds decided the outcome of the confrontation.
The domestic athlete immediately rushed forward instead of taking time for accurate reconnaissance, and instantly paid for it.
The Russian slightly let go of the body, as if trying to carry out a takedown, and helped the opponent knock him out.
A serious difference in height also played into the hands of Ilich.
If it were lower, the blow would not have turned out so accurate.
“I didn’t prepare for a left-hander and got hit on the left from the knee.
It is long, it has a knee, like the legs of many.
I should have been more careful, but I figured nothing bad would happen.
But, again, what is there to talk about now?
- quotes the words of the athlete "Sport-Express".
The banal underestimation of Ilic is not excluded.
The veteran of mixed martial arts could not have expected that the opponent would also immediately approach him and demonstrate his knockout blow.
However, Shlemenko, unlike the fans, could hardly take the Joker lightly.
Immediately after it became known who exactly would replace Ismailov, who was recovering from an injury, Storm complained that before that he was preparing for a low wrestler, but got a high puncher as a rival.
The fighting style of Ilich was reflected in the statistics of his fights.
Nine of 13 victories he won ahead of schedule, and seven - in the first round.
At the same time, in relatively recent fights with Adrian Dudek and Damian Yanikovsky, the Serb won just thanks to high-kicks.
“I was preparing for a low wrestler, and they gave me a drummer who has long arms and legs ... He is also left-handed.
I knew that he could hit me, ”the Russian complained.
In addition, he had to meet infrequently with such high fighters.
As a negative example, we can recall the defeat of the 188-centimeter Tito Ortiz in 2014 at Bellator.
However, certain questions in terms of preparation arose for the athlete himself.
Initially, he was supposed to meet Ismailov in Yekaterinburg, and a month later, fight in his native Omsk.
However, after the Bald Predator announced that he would not be able to enter the cage at the originally agreed time, Alexander did not want to change his plans and is now forced to fight three fights in less than six months.
As a result, the first one ended unsuccessfully.
Nevertheless, a knockout in the confrontation with Ilic could have been avoided if not for the controversial decision of the referee.
Yes, after a missed knee, Shlemenko ended up on the floor, but he was conscious.
Then the opponent rushed to finish him off, but the experienced Alexander competently blocked his head.
But the referee didn't give him a chance and signaled a stoppage, which angered the MMA veteran.
“I wanted to talk to the referee, but he did not come into the locker room.
There were thoughts to tell him not to climb ahead of time.
It happens to me when I'm not fully tuned in, I relax.
Even now I watched the replay... I won't deny that I missed the kick and didn't see it, but I started to rise.
The referee needs to report that I have 75 professional fights.
Still, I'm not a newbie.
It’s just that they didn’t let me return again after a missed blow, ”Shlemenko emphasized.
Even Ismailov supported his colleague, according to whom, the judge could well take a break.
“He was getting out of more serious situations.
Based on the fact that it was Shlemenko, I would give him more time.
We saw a lot of fights where he missed and got lost... But he pulled them out.
It was possible to give us time so that we could make sure that he was in order, ”the native of Dagestan emphasized.
Storm is really hard to call a fighter who is ready to end the fight after the first missed blow.
On the contrary, during his long career, he has earned the reputation of an uncompromising daredevil who fights to the end.
You can remember how the Russian in several meetings, including in a duel with Ortiz, preferred to pass out after choking than to knock in surrender.
Repeatedly, he had to turn over extremely difficult confrontations when he was on the verge of a technical knockout.
The fight with Brett Cooper in 2013 immediately comes to mind, in which Alexander defended the Bellator championship belt.
In the second round, Storm opened a severe cut above his left eye, and then he missed a powerful right hook.
The American tried to finish off the Russian, but he withstood the onslaught of the opponent and managed to seize the initiative.
As a result, the judges gave him a unanimous victory.
Of the more recent examples, I recall the duel with Viscardi Andrade in Chelyabinsk, when Shlemenko was pressed against the net in the first five minutes and missed a hail of blows.
At some point, Alexander stopped answering them, but the referee did not rush to stop, and the experienced athlete not only came to his senses, but also got the better of the Brazilian.
The unbending nature of the native of Omsk is confirmed by another fact: he was knocked out only three times in his career.
From the last failure, he can only draw the right conclusions and calmly continue preparing for the next battles.
The main thing is that Shlemenko did not receive serious damage, and he will not need much time to recover.
Moreover, he has already expressed a desire to have a rematch with Ilic.