“I myself would like to meet Magomed”: Tokov wished Ismailov a speedy recovery after the cancellation of their fight

“During the weightlifting, I felt that my knee was “stuck”

The cancellation of the fight between Magomed Ismailov and Anatoly Tokov extremely disappointed the fans, because their rematch on March 9 as part of the ACA 172 tournament promised to become one of the most exciting events in the world of Russian MMA in 2024.

It’s all the more offensive that the Bald Predator was injured just a few days before.

The founder of the ACA league, Mairbek Khasiev, was the first to report what had happened.

At the same time, he promised to do everything possible to organize the fight in the near future.

Soon the athlete himself spoke about his injury.

In particular, he confirmed that he plans to fight with his opponent before the end of the year.

“During the weightlifting, I felt that my knee was “stuck” and was behaving very unstable.

They took a picture - the inner meniscus is torn, the outer one is detached.

In general, my surgeon has something to do.

Nothing new, I know what to do.

Inshallah, I will rehabilitate myself as quickly as possible and return to duty,” Ismailov wrote on social networks.

He also apologized to Tokov, Khasiev and the fans who had already purchased tickets.

“Anatoly spent the whole camp and worked, and now this is the news.

My apologies, Tolya, you are lucky, of course.

But now, no jokes, I sincerely apologize.

I accept everything as it is and thank the league.

Sorry, I didn't do it on purpose.

Everything that must overtake us must not pass us by,” the veteran added.

Meanwhile, Ismailov’s brother and coach, Ramazan, revealed the nature of the injury.

In his opinion, entering the “cage” with such damage would be dangerous.

But most importantly, the specialist named quite optimistic recovery times and expressed hope that Magomed will be fully ready in three to four months.

“He is undergoing surgery.

Rehabilitation will probably take about a month.

Plus preparation - two months.

Just in Ramadan he will be after the operation, then two or three months - and he will be in combat readiness,” Sport-Express quotes the words of the mentor.

Tokov also did not hide his emotions and admitted that he was extremely disappointed in the postponement of the fight, since he managed to go through a full training camp.

“I didn’t write anything to Magomed.

He was injured, but that’s our job.

No one is immune from this.

Of course, you think: “Well, how can that be?”

The main thing is that during all the preparation I was afraid of getting some kind of damage.

I asked everyone to work as carefully as possible.

And I was worried about Magomed’s health,” the fighter said in an interview with RT.

Despite this, he wished his opponent a speedy recovery and expressed hope that they would have a rematch in the near future.

“Our fight attracted a lot of attention from domestic fans.

Yes, I myself would like to meet Magomed.

It would be a really big confrontation.

But nothing.

Life goes on.

This happens in every athlete’s career,” Tokov added.

As for the upcoming tournament, the athlete intends to take part in it so that the preparation will not be in vain.

Understanding that it will be difficult for the fighter who agreed to replace Ismailov and go on short notice to quickly lose weight, he is ready to fight in the category from 86 to 90 kg.

“There was no point in taking risks”

The first fight between famous middleweights took place back in May 2013.

Both athletes were just starting their careers at that time.

The fight did not last long, since the promising Tobolsk resident performed a successful painful hold in the starting round.

For the Bald Predator, that defeat was his debut.

And now, almost 11 years later, a rematch was announced.

It became possible thanks to the consent of Bellator.

For the last six years, Anatoly has performed in this American promotion.

According to the terms of the contract, he had one fight left, but since the organization could not give an exact answer when it would take place, they allowed him to fight at home.

Meanwhile, the new injury cast a cloud over Ismailov’s immediate future, since by the end of the year he planned to meet at least Vladimir Mineev and Alexander Shlemenko.

The first fight could presumably take place in June, and the second in the summer or autumn.

In terms of the level of public interest, both were definitely not inferior to the confrontation with Tokov.

The main problem is not even the fact of Magomed’s injury, but the vulnerability of his knees in general.

In one of his interviews, Ramazan Ismailov said that he tore the ligaments of both joints.

Moreover, he injured the latter during a sparring with Rashid Yusupov.

Despite this, the athlete continued to work.

“Before the final fight, the injury made itself felt.

There was an option that they could withdraw.

But they held out, everything is fine.

At times she reminded of herself, and sometimes the Magician did not feel pain,” explained Ismailov Sr.

According to him, it was only after his debut fight under boxing rules with Olanrewaju Durododa in 2022 that the Bald Predator finally underwent surgery.

It was because of problems with his joints that Magomed has recently focused on boxing and, after losing to Mineev, did not fight in MMA for more than a year.

Only in December 2022 did he meet with Shlemenko and win by decision.

“I was told about 15 years ago that I shouldn’t play sports, ha ha ha.

They have already said several times: it’s time to finish.

Therefore, I was looking for a person who would say: “Yes, everything is fine, don’t worry.”

And he immediately said about him: “Yes, that’s it, here he is.”

They can warn you five times - it’s impossible, but I found someone who would answer: “it’s possible,” the athlete admitted.

However, according to the head of AMC Fight Nights Kamil Gadzhiev, in this case there is no need to overdramatize the situation.

The manager believes that Ismailov and Tokov are capable of rematch in just six months.

“Surgery on the meniscus is not that complicated.

This injury cannot be compared, for example, with a cruciate ligament rupture.

Fighters come back even after this, not to mention problems with the meniscus.

Magomed's recovery period will be approximately two to three months.

The same amount will be required to set the form.

Yes, the Bald Predator is no longer a boy, but he will find an opportunity to approach the issue of rehabilitation in a quality manner.

There was no point in taking risks.

According to MMA rules, you can’t fight with such an injury, because the leg becomes unstable,” Gadzhiev explained to RT.

At the same time, he did not rule out that what happened would push the veteran to leave professional sports.

“Ismailov is already in the final stages of his career.

I think that if earlier he planned to have three more fights and finish, now he will limit himself to two.

It’s difficult to say 100% that he will still get along with Tokov, because sometimes circumstances are against us.

But at a specific moment, nothing happened to say that a rematch will never take place.

The organizers will certainly do their best.

We just have to believe in the best,” Gadzhiev added.