“I want a Russian person to be associated with strength, not with alcohol”: Aryshev on patriotism, the greatness of Emelianenko and the NWO

- Your knockout in the fight with Marcio Santos has become one of the highlights of Russian MMA in 2023.

Would you include him in the top three of your best stoppages in your career?

- I think yes.

In my opinion, this is my best, most spectacular knockout.

Unlike many, it turned out to be not technical - after that blow, finishing was no longer required.

Many of the fellow fighters have been praised for it.

Including those with whom I spoke in the Tiger Muay Thai hall.

- When an opponent is in such a deaf knockout, is it not scary for him?

- Certainly.

I always worry about the health of my opponents.

When Santos first fell, he did not yet realize how difficult his condition was.

Therefore, it turned out that he hit and went to celebrate.

When, after a few minutes, Marcio was still on the ground, he became seriously agitated.

By that time, doctors had already surrounded him, trying to help.

- Usually fighters after a long absence from the promotion are given a "warm up".

But Santos was immediately put against you, who defeated Alexander Emelianenko and Artur Huseynov, and also almost took over Alexander Shlemenko.

Did you want to fight him yourself or was it the idea of ​​the matchmakers?

— It was my initiative.

Now I am only interested in eminent, strong opponents, the victory over which would help me grow, open up new perspectives.

I don't need passing fights.

I think there will be no motivation to seriously prepare, to work hard for the sake of this fight.

- Did you think it was too risky?

- No.

I am well aware of my strengths and weaknesses, I train with very serious sparring partners, I have already fought with quality grapplers, black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

In addition, I saw that Santos was inferior to me in speed, at least in my arms.

Let's say, while he would have brought a blow to me, by this moment he would have received three in response.

And so it was in fact.

- The victory over Santos was the second fastest in your career.

In less time, you managed to deal only with Sergey Tovkan at the L-1 Grand Prix in 2016.

Was it really as easy as it seemed from the outside?

“At the end of the battle, I myself had the impression that everything turned out quite simply.

But it's all thanks to hard training.

I prepared hard and tuned in for a long, hard fight.

I was going to fight with Santos, but everything turned out that way.

But it often happens.

If you are betting on a knockout, a quick end to the fight, then most likely you will have to seriously sweat in the cage.

Everything was different here.

- Compared to your recent fights in Hardcore FC, was it really easier with Santos?

- On the eve of the Grand Prix semi-finals, I had to fight four fights in four months, and the break between some was only three weeks.

For professional MMA, this is a very tight schedule, so it was not always possible to approach the tournament in perfect shape.

At the same time, before the duel with Yuri Smoyan, he received a very serious injury.

I was going to act, but my teammate Vladislav Kovalev convinced me that I could perform in such a state.

- What damage did you get?

- I had a detachment of the pectoralis major muscle.

During the wrestling training, one of the six mounts was damaged - the lower one.

He recovered for a very long time, during the camp he was engaged only in cardio and rehabilitation, more or less came to his senses only a week before meeting with Smoyan.

It was already necessary to drive weight, and I just started sparring.

It can be said that he came out on one faith in himself, but managed to win by knockout.

- Thanks to this, you made it to the Grand Prix finals, in which you fought with Shamil Ramazanov.

- A very strong fighter, until this moment he had not had a single defeat in his liabilities.

We had a five-round fight, there was no plan at all costs to knock him out at the start.

I was sure that he was stronger functionally, so I planned to wear him out and become more active in the later segments.

If the fight had been designed for 15 minutes, perhaps I would have started at a higher pace and resolved all issues a little earlier.

But we will never know this. 

- Your results in recent bouts actually shatter the popular theory that AMC Fight Nights, ACA and Eagle FC are the strongest fighters in the country, while Hardcore FC and other pop MMA promotions are second-class athletes.

- The general public really gets the impression that the HFC and the like are second-rate leagues.

But that hasn't been the case for a long time.

There are many strong professionals fighting in YouTube promotions.

For example, at Our Business, Maxim Divnich fought with Magomed Kabardiev.

Tom has already been tipped to move to the UFC, and he decided to participate in the local Grand Prix.

These leagues are very popular with viewers, so going there can help you get more media coverage.

Namely, popularity largely determines how big fees you will be offered in the future.

Personally, I went there for exactly this purpose - to win a new audience, to become more famous.

- In your opinion, is the line between a kind of professional mixed martial arts and pop MMA erased now?

Yes, if this line exists now, it is very thin.

At least, Hardcore FC can already be safely called a professional promotion.

There are no more freak fights, the fights are very spectacular.

There is no such thing that the opponents lie on the ground for a long time and do not know what to do.

In the same UFC, there are less spectacular fights.

— In that case, what made you leave Hardcore FC and go to AMC Fight

- First of all, opponents listed in the world rankings.

The same Santos is much more popular than Ramazanov.

Now I want to fight famous fighters in order to try myself in foreign promotions in the future.

In addition, I was offered a solid fee.

Together, this influenced the decision.

- Now it seems that AMC Fight Nigh

- I will not argue, at the moment AMC Fight Nights is not the strongest Russian promotion.

If we take the composition of fighters by division, then it is noticeably inferior to ACA.

But I have an exclusive contract.

I can’t disclose it, I can only say that it contains a list of possible opponents, as well as the conditions on which I will fight with them.

At the same time, I do not exclude that in the future I will fight in other domestic leagues.

Perhaps in the same ACA.

Maybe it will be possible to get into the UFC.

This can be done through the same Dana White's Contender Series.

There is also Bellator, ONE FC.

It all depends on the manager.

Have you heard that ACA may soon acquire AMC Fight

- These rumors went after I signed the agreement.

But I don’t really care, because the contract specifies specific names.

- In your opinion, will it benefit the development of Russian MMA?

- When one league absorbs another, the level of competition decreases.

If this still happens, I will hope that the ACA will hold tournaments more often, and the athletes will have somewhere to play.

- Unlike ACA, AMC Fight Nights does not have a rating system, so it's hard to assess how high the victory over Santos helped you rise.

In your opinion, how many more fights do you need to win to get the opportunity to fight for the belt?

- As Kamil Hajiyev said, this can be done now.

The promotion roster is not that big, so such a confident victory over the top already allows you to compete for the trophy.

- But you understand that in the next few months you are unlikely to be able to fight for the title, because the current middleweight champion Vladimir Mineev went to the SVO zone.

- Certainly.

Perhaps the matchmakers will organize a fight for the interim belt, and we will meet with Mineev later.

If that happens, of course.

But now I really want to fight for the trophy.

Have you negotiated this yet?

- No.

While we wait.

I hope to have the next fight in May.

I'll take a break and continue to train, gain condition.

- How do you assess the act of Mineev?

- It's everyone's business.

I really respect his decision.

Vladimir is a real man, he was not afraid of this.

You have to understand that his brother died in Ukraine, probably, emotions played a role.

Perhaps all this is in memory of him.

- After the fight with Santos, you expressed support for the Russian soldiers participating in the SVO, which not all athletes and mixed martial arts fighters do.

Why?

- Many of my acquaintances, comrades, with whom I continue to stay in touch, are participating in a special military operation.

For example, Hardcore FC donated the Fight of the Year award to him.

At that time they were preparing to depart for the NWO zone, equipment was required.

Whatever we can, we help.

The same applies to the consecration of victory.

I am pleased to do it, they are pleased to hear it.

I don't understand why others don't do the same. 

- Recently, Mineev hinted at a possible end of his career.

And this is at 32 years old.

Do you think it's too early?

- Everyone decides for himself.

Someone is ready to fight until the age of 46, like Fedor Emelianenko, someone finishes at 30. It all depends on health, desire.

If it's not fun, then why do it?

Only the money will not be kept there, something more is needed.

Do you see yourself in

- Probably not.

I plan to devote myself to mixed martial arts in the next five years, and then we'll see what happens next.

- In your opinion, are there stronger middleweights in Russia now than Mineev?

— На этот вопрос сложно ответить. Как минимум, не уступает ему по уровню действующий чемпион ACA Магомедрасул Гасанов. Он не самый популярный, о нём знают только те, кто в теме. Но уровень очень высокий.

— Магомед Исмаилов в число топов уже не входит?

— Нет, он по-прежнему очень хорош. С радостью подрался бы с Магомедом. Но Исмаилов выдвигает такие условия, на которых далеко не все лиги готовы устроить ему поединок.

— Вам не кажется, что в настоящее время Исмаилов гораздо ближе к боксёрским боям и хайповым схваткам, чем к профессиональным MMA?

— Магомед продолжает расти медийно, пытается заработать как можно больше, чтобы хватило на безбедную старость. Ведь век бойца не так долог.

— После недавних поражений Александр Шлеменко по-прежнему остаётся одним из сильнейших российских средневесов?

It cannot be excluded from this category.

But I would not want to fight Shlemenko.

I treat him with great respect, I communicate with representatives of his team.

This fight doesn't interest me.

As with Vyacheslav Vasilevsky.

- If you could choose who you would like to fight right now - with Mineev, Gasanov or Ismailov?

- With Maga.

This fight would give me a lot, not only from a sports point of view, but also from a media point of view.

- I understand that now you are in Thailand and are engaged in

“You can say I’m in shape right now.

In the morning I relax with my family, in the evening I spend one workout.

I combine business with pleasure.

Now there are many eminent athletes here, in sparring with whom it is interesting to test your strength.

While I'm holding on pretty well, I wouldn't say that I'm inferior to anyone.

- With which of the Russian fighters did you manage to work?

- With Mukhammed Kokov, Sergey Martynov, one of the representatives of the team of Khamzat Chimaev, a very strong guy.

It was not possible to "stand" in pairs with him.

I also crossed paths with several lesser known athletes, but very skillful.

Based on these trainings, I concluded that the strongest fighters come from Russia and the CIS countries.

Foreigners are noticeably inferior.

— Petr Yan is also in

— Yes, as well as Anatoly Malykhin and Rafael Fiziev.

- In March, Jan will face a very difficult test in the form of a battle with Merab Dvalishvili.

Do you think it will be easier with him than with Algemain Sterling?

- I think Sterling is stronger in grappling.

Dvalishvili is rather a freestyle wrestler, and even less overall.

I think Petya will prepare well.

Sparring partners abound, time too.

I expect him to win confidently.

- The two previous fights were not in favor of Jan, and in both cases he lost by decision.

Didn't it seem to you that the verdict of the judges was more than controversial?

- I don’t want to slander, but I do not exclude that political moments affected the opinion of the judges.

In my opinion, Jan was better in both fights, albeit not by much.

I hope he will take over more confidently in the future.

I will root for him.

- Now you work at

You could say I've been there almost from the ground up.

Now Vlad Kovalev and I are the backbone of Alexander Nevsky.

This is our team, we are not going to leave from there.

In parallel, I go to Fighting Sport Arts.

We also have a strong squad there, we get together twice a week, we have hard training.

I also visit Grusha BC, put boxing with Igor Vasilyevich Smolyanov.

- How many halls did you change before joining Alexander Nevsky?

- Until a certain point, I trained here and there.

Before that, he worked at the 18 club, but there was no one to fight with.

It was possible to develop only percussion technique.

Then it was a kind of hobby, now I'm professionally approaching the preparation.

- What is the difference?

- I worked in personal security, schedule 3/3.

On working days, I finished late at night, but in the morning I got up anyway, tried to do exercises so as not to lose shape.

I did a couple of workouts over the weekend.

With such an approach, it is impossible to perform at a high level.

Now I work in a different place - also a personal security guard, but with a person who comes to meet me.

He is a sports fan.

Therefore, now I have a lot of free time, I have the opportunity to go to training camps, have a good rest.

- Since when

- At the age of 27, I decided that up to thirty I would devote myself to mixed martial arts.

If I can make a living doing this, I will continue.

No, it means it's time to do something else.

But while everything is going well, I will try to grow and go to new heights.

- In light of the fact that you are actually one of the leaders of Alexander Nevsky, does this mean that you are also responsible for the ideology of the team?

- We have a leader.

But I wouldn't call it just a team.

I know many people who represent certain clubs, but do not communicate with each other.

We are more of a friendly team.

In addition to training, we spend a lot of time together: we go to the bathhouse, play chess, go on business.

"Alexander Nevsky" is more than just a group of fighters.

This is a brotherhood, a family.

- The description of the hall says that it also lays "the foundation of the character of a real Russian war."

How is it shown?

- Russian fighters are mainly involved in Alexander Nevsky, the atmosphere of the Russian spirit prevails.

We try to adhere to our traditions, concepts, to promote traditional values.

Be an example for our young guys.

If we talk about the spiritual aspect, we start each workout with a prayer.

In the hall we have icons, a red corner.

I want the Russian people to be associated with strength, and not with alcohol and other things, as they are trying to impose on us.

But at the same time, I note that we do not offend other nations and peoples.

We treat everyone who loves their country with respect.

I think this is normal for everyone.

- Surely, many fans of mixed martial arts, when they hear about Alexander Nevsky, they remember the club from Stary Oskol, where Fedor Emelianenko trained.

Can we say that that team is a kind of prototype, a guideline for yours?

- To a certain degree.

But after all, "Alexander Nevsky" is in St. Petersburg, Omsk.

And rather, our hall takes roots from there - one of the leaders is there.

- Last weekend, Fedor Emelianenko lost to Ryan Bader and announced his retirement.

Did the result surprise you?

— I confess, I had different expectations from this fight.

I hoped that Fedor would be able to take over, but things turned out differently.

Age spares no one.

Now Bader is clearly in better shape than Emelianenko.

Initially, I thought that the fight would not end in the first round.

I was sure that Fedor would last at least until the second. I think this defeat will not affect his status in any way.

For everyone, Emelianenko will remain a legend, but objectively his best years are behind him.

I hope this time he made the final decision to leave the sport.

- Recently, Emelianenko's prospects have been evaluated differently.

Some said that he could perform at a high level for another ten years, others called his decision to resume his career in 2015 wrong.

What is your point of view?

- Everyone chooses his own path.

We are not his advisers.

As Fedor decided, it's better.

Perhaps if he had ended his career then, there would have been some kind of understatement.

Emelianenko himself would have reproached himself for leaving too early, not fully realizing his potential.

- Emelianenko is one of those fighters, thanks to whom many became interested in mixed martial arts.

Even ex-

- I am one of those fighters who came to this sport thanks to Fedor.

In the 2000s, I saw fights involving the Emelianenko brothers in PRIDE, then they were broadcast on NTV.

It was then that he got acquainted with mixed martial arts.

Their success motivated me a lot.

Of course, first of all, the achievements of Fedor.

He was inferior to almost everyone in size, but he showed incredible performances, and even at such a level.

Of course, Alexander was also good: he boxed cool, knocked everyone out.

- What fights with the participation of Emelianenko do you especially remember?

- Of course, the fight with Mirko "Cro Cop" is one of my favorites.

I was impressed with how tactically great he played it, demonstrated a phenomenal fighting IQ.

This would also include confrontations with Zuluzinho and Hong Man Choi.

It is clear that these are not the strongest athletes, but they had a colossal advantage in height and weight.

When Fedor fought with the same Korean, at the time of the leverage, the elbow seemed the size of an opponent's hand.

The battle with Kevin Randleman also comes to mind.

Then Emelianenko survived a crushing throw, injured a rib, but survived and prevailed.

From any position, he could emerge victorious.

Emelianenko has many legendary fights.

Each of them has been reviewed many times.

Recall the same duels with Brett Rogers or Andrei Orlovsky.

Great fights, great knockouts.

- After leaving the sport, Emelianenko will probably again begin to widely discuss his status in the world of mixed martial arts.

In your opinion, what place

- I would call Emelianenko the greatest fighter of mixed martial arts not only in Russia, but also in the world.

What about Khabib Nurmagomedov?

- Heavy weight is considered royal, whatever one may say.

There can be no stronger representatives of this category.

Look at boxing.

Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson are considered real legends there.

Yes, the same Sugar Ray Leonard could be better in terms of technology, but they don’t put him on a par with them.

The same goes for Fedor.

For ten years, he prevailed over all the heavyweight stars.

In those days, the strongest performed in PRIDE, there were no promotions of such a level in the USA.

Khabib is a very tough fighter who has not suffered a single defeat, beat a lot of tops.

But he fought only in the light category, despite the fact that during the break between tournaments he weighed under 90 kilograms.

I don't want to underestimate his accomplishments, but personally I would like to see him in the welterweight division.

If he would have killed everyone there, he would have been closer to the status of the strongest athlete in the history of MMA.