An abyss in the fight, problems with preparation and a load of failures: why it will be difficult for Shlemenko to defeat Ismailov

One of the most anticipated fights of 2022 in Russian MMA between Alexander Shlemenko and Magomed Ismailov seems to still take place before the end of the year.

The RCC organization officially announced its holding on December 3 at a tournament in Yekaterinburg.

Initially, the fight was planned for August, but was postponed indefinitely due to the problems of the Dagestani with his knees.

This time, nothing should prevent him from entering the “cage”.

But the state of the opponent, on the contrary, raises big questions.

A few months ago, he was rightfully considered one of the country's most eminent and strong middleweights, but two unsuccessful confrontations forced fans to talk about his imminent retirement.

At the end of August, the veteran sensationally lost to Alexander Ilich.

And the point is not even the fact of defeat, but how exactly the former Bellator champion lost.

The referee was forced to signal a technical knockout already at the 22nd second.

The Serb first successfully hit his opponent's head with his knee, and then finished him off.

True, the Russian was extremely dissatisfied with the actions of the referee and expressed the opinion that he announced the stoppage too early.

But if in this case Storm could attribute everything to third-party factors and “lucky punch”, then the confrontation with Kleber Souza at the end of September, which lasted all three rounds, also left an unpleasant impression.

The favorite in his native Omsk could not do anything with the little-known Brazilian and never managed to shock him.

The judges eventually declared a draw, although no one would have been surprised by the victory of the guest.

The last fight, which took place just a month after the fight with Ilic, looked frankly superfluous in the athlete's schedule.

It would have been better for him to come to his senses and recover calmly, but he had no chance of refusing to enter the "cage" as part of the SFC's own promotion.

The tournament was dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Omsk region, and the fight between the eminent athlete and Souza became its main event.

Ismailov at that time was calmly recovering from injury and getting in shape.

He spent the last confrontation according to the rules of MMA a year ago, when he lost to Vladimir Mineev.

Since then, he has only entered the boxing ring twice, but neither Olanrevaju Durodola nor the already mentioned Ilich did him serious damage.

For Magomed, fights with them turned into high-quality training in striking techniques without the risk of getting a new injury.

Even if Storm approached the confrontation in perfect condition, his chances of success would still be low.

The reason is that the Bald Predator is the most uncomfortable for him stylistically.

The Dagestanis focuses on the fight, in which the opponent is not so strong.

Alexander, whose basic forms are kickboxing, Thai boxing and army hand-to-hand combat, has always been famous for his work in the rack.

Once in the stalls, he invariably experienced difficulties.

As an example, we can recall two defeats in a row within Bellator in 2014.

Then, already in the starting round, he consistently lost to Tito Ortiz and Brandon Halsey.

The first "threw a triangle", and the second held a successful choke.

Also coming to mind is the failure in the title fight with Hector Lombard in 2010, when the Cuban successfully attacked almost the entire fight from the guard, and a misfire in the confrontation with compatriot Anatoly Tokov.

Ismailov, on the other hand, is a top wrestler, who in this component left no chance for almost any of his opponents.

He suffered the only defeat in his career with a reception back in 2013 from the same Tokov.

In the future, if he conceded, then either by a judicial decision or by knockout.

However, on the territory of the opponent, in the standing position, he made serious progress in a year.

While the Bald Predator was recovering from a torn knee ligament, he focused on working on striking techniques and successfully tried his hand at boxing.

A fight with former world title contender Olanrewaju Durodola in late February seemed like nothing more than an experiment and a desire to make money.

Moreover, the organizers did everything to make him take over.

Firstly, mindful of the problems of the Russian with endurance, the fight was shortened to four three-minute rounds.

Secondly, Olanrewaju complained that he was not allowed to warm up and was forced to enter the ring in 16-ounce gloves instead of the much tougher 10-ounce ones.

No less revealing was the duel with Ilic in early October.

If Shlemenko could not oppose anything to the Serb, then Magomed won a landslide victory.

At the same time, his opponent, who is a basic kickboxer, was considered the favorite.

But the Russian competently spent the entire fight and owned an undeniable advantage, throwing a huge number of punches.

Of course, he did not demonstrate perfect boxing technique, but he hit accurately and strongly, competently avoiding other people's attacks.

It is equally important that the Bald Predator demonstrated good functional readiness that evening.

Previously, he was often reproached for not having enough strength even for three rounds.

Indicative in this regard was the second confrontation with Mineev, when Ismailov in the final segment simply stopped and lost consciousness.

But in the fight with Ilic, he calmly lasted all 18 minutes.

At the same time, Magomed practically did not slow down and went forward until the last moment, trying to knock out his opponent.

But it was speed that was considered one of the few advantages of Shlemenko in the upcoming battle.

In his best years, he had excellent stamina and fought in a standing position, almost without using pauses.

However, in recent years, Alexander did not show these qualities too often.

For example, in 2021, although he went the whole distance with Artur Huseynov and Marcio Santos, he won only by extremely controversial decisions of the judges.

Even more alarming was the meeting with the already mentioned Souza, in which the Russian began to show signs of fatigue already at the end of the first round.

In the remaining two, he rather acted on the moral and strong-willed than arranged the notorious storm in the "cage".

He not only failed to shock the Brazilian, but also received a broken nose and in the end was forced to save himself in the clinch to the dissatisfied murmur of the audience.

Unfortunately, it is unlikely that in two months the former Bellator champion will get into perfect shape, as in his best years.

And even more difficult than physically, he will have to psychologically.

After all, after two consecutive unsuccessful fights, his career is at stake.

If the veteran suffers another defeat, it is possible that he will have to finally focus on coaching and organizational work.