Double knockdown: Emelianenko lost to blogger Kovalenko by split decision

Emelianenko's meeting with a blogger and Datsik's fight with a friend

2.5 months after the fight, Alexander Emelianenko and Vyacheslav Datsik were to meet again in the same tournament.

True, this time they had different fights.

And both received quite unexpected rivals, who were significantly inferior to them in anthropometric data.

In the case of Alexander, it was also about the abyss in the level of skill, because he had to meet with the famous blogger Svyatoslav Kovalenko.

The young man specializes in interviews with pop MMA stars and holding fights with them.

At the same time, his statistics are very decent - ten wins and only three losses.

In particular, Kovalenko twice turned out to be stronger than Artyom Tarasov, whom Emelianenko in 2020 did not finish without difficulty.

Nevertheless, the difference in weight of almost 26 kg and in the class should have played a role.

Phoenix also pressed on this, actively intimidating his opponent.

“The fact that he once fought is not an indicator.

Everyone is fighting on the street.

When you go out against a trained athlete, this is completely different, ”Sport-Express quotes the words of the fighter.

In turn, Kovalenko compared their meeting with the sensational confrontation in the United States between blogger Jake Paul and ex-UFC champion Anderson Silva.

“He is a legend that I have known since childhood.

I did not call him and did not insist that this fight take place.

I was offered, so they saw interest, ”Svyatoslav explained.

Datsik, on the other hand, was to meet with another well-known pop-MMA fighter, Pavel Shulsky.

An additional intrigue to the fight was given by the fact that they had trained together for several years and, accordingly, knew everything about each other.

“He knows me as flaky.

We fought with him many times in the gym.

We trained and sparred.

He knows me.

And I know him.

We will invent something new to surprise.

We will learn new technology.

The plan is always the same, just the methods of achieving it are different, ”the athlete promised.

At the same time, as in most of his fights, he turned out to be much heavier than his opponent.

This time his overweight reached 22 kg.

Controversial victory for Red Tarzan

Two comrades did not deceive the expectations of the fans and really staged a bright uncompromising fight.

Moreover, contrary to expectations, Datsik did not rush forward from the first seconds, but spent some time on reconnaissance and hitting the body.

However, soon he nevertheless turned on his trademark “swing”, trying to quickly knock out an opponent.

Some hits looked really scary, and Shulsky miraculously stayed on his feet, especially given the recent fracture of his jaw.

In general, he acted competently: due to a serious advantage in height and arm length, he kept his opponent at a distance and shot him in series.

Some of the shots of the two-meter puncher were no less powerful.

For example, in one of the episodes, Red Tarzan missed a dangerous left straight right in the eye.

In the second round, the course of the fight did not change much, except that the athletes began to accumulate fatigue.

Datsik increasingly hung on the opponent and clinched.

But still, he did not leave attempts to complete the confrontation ahead of schedule with a powerful right hook.

However, every time he lacked the very smallness.

Yes, and Pavel did not allow him to calmly hit himself, actively moving around the ring.

It seemed that if the fight continued in this vein, the victory would be his.

Obviously, the opponent had less and less strength, although he continued to go ahead.

But in the final three-minute period, for some reason, Shulsky joined Vyacheslav's game and went into a tough exchange.

Perhaps he no longer had the strength to leave.

As a result, the athletes gave a powerful segment with a large number of hits, but could not knock each other out.

As a result of the fight, it remained completely unclear who the judges would give the victory to.

And their decision left serious questions, as the referees unanimously took the side of Red Tarzan, who somewhat embarrassedly accepted congratulations from his colleague.

“Pasha was not quite ready for the “collective farm”, although he knows me very well.

We are friends.

I think we gave people a cheerful beautiful zaruba for the holiday.

No one was running, but the fighters had a great fight, they had a good time.

Everyone saw everything.

And as usual, friendship won, ”said Datsik.

He managed to "close" the defeat from the boxer Ilyas Yakubov, which he suffered just a week ago and make himself a great New Year's gift.

Sensational Phoenix Defeat

Spectators were definitely not disappointed with the main event.

In it, the majority still expected the victory of Emelianenko.

It seemed that he was obliged to rehabilitate himself after a hard knockout from Datsik.

Yes, and the opponent at first glance picked up the right one.

But the blogger created an amazing sensation.

Before the fight, he promised that in no case would he run away from Alexander despite his advantage in the class, and he kept his word.

From the first moments, the young man boldly walked forward and began to throw sweeping clumsy blows as if from a street fight.

At first, it seemed that the athlete did not notice them at all.

He delivered much more accentuated uppercuts, each of which could send an opponent to the floor, and then pinned him to the net.

But he persisted and answered.

An unpleasant signal for Emelianenko was a cut over his right eye.

Kovalenko still managed to inflict damage on him.

However, the round more likely went to Phoenix, who ended it with a beautiful trip.

In theory, he should have calmly developed success in the class, but what happened in the second segment does not fit into his head.

Before the fighters had time to resume the fight, Svyatoslav landed two accurate right hooks.

They did not look like knockouts, and the blogger is unlikely to have such a blow, but the opponent was led.

Kovalenko took advantage of the chance and rushed to finish off.

At the net, after another hit, the veteran fell to the floor.

The young man immediately tried to finish the job on the ground, because the opponent's face was covered with blood.

But an experienced athlete competently knitted his hands and did not allow him to do anything.

According to the rules of the meeting, the fighters could only be on the ground for a minute.

And therefore, when the judge raised them, Emelianenko got the opportunity to rehabilitate himself.

In the end, he already seized the initiative and delivered several dangerous blows.

But in the final three minutes, Alexander was again knocked down.

This time he dodged the right side of Kovalenko, but on the return he still hit him in the jaw with the outer side of his fist.

Svyatoslav again rushed to finish off and again did not succeed.

And when the fighters returned to the stand, the blogger was already on the verge.

Instead of dragging out time as much as possible, he allowed the opponent to break the distance and attack.

As a result, after one of the hits, Kovalenko ended up on the floor.

But he not only successfully defended himself, but also tried to hold a "triangle".

With the final siren, it became obvious that Emelianenko had practically no chance, but one of the judges still gave him the victory.

The other two naturally took the side of the opponent.

After that, upset Alexander hastily left the ring.

Kovalenko was happy, thanked everyone present and said hello to his mother.

“I treat all opponents with the utmost caution.

It's been a tough fight.

I think you yourself saw everything.

I would like to thank my coach Dmitry Buchnev.

Everything I have learned is thanks to him.

I am also grateful to the best manager Vitaly Tarasov.

None of this would have happened if it wasn't for him.

We are moving along this path together.

I am standing here in front of you now, and I started by interviewing athletes.

I gained experience from them and began to fight myself, ”he recalled his story.

Success in the confrontation with a rival of such a rank should seriously raise Kovalenko's shares.

Surely, now he has many interesting offers in pop MMA ahead of him.

But the prospects for Emelianenko became even more vague, because at the end of September he lost to Datsik by knockout in seven seconds, and now he lost to the blogger, having been knocked down twice.

At the same time, the strength left the athlete in the first round and he did not surpass the amateur in anything.

Alexander himself called refereeing the main reason for the failure and even compared himself with Magomed Ankalaev, who at the recent UFC tournament ended in an extremely controversial draw with Jan Blachowicz and missed the opportunity to win the light heavyweight championship belt.

He reproached the opponent for the cowardly manner of fighting.

“I believe that Kovalenko was given the victory undeservedly ... What I expected, then happened ... He also ran away from me around the ring.

Periodically stopped and threw out sweeping blows.

Well done, ”complained Emelianenko.