At UFC Fight Night 211 Alexei Oleinik (60 wins, 16 losses) will fight with Ilir Latifi (15-8), teammate of Khamzat Chimaev and former wrestler for the Swedish national team.
– You turned 45 in June, as stated?
– No way, I ate a piece of cake with my wife and children. Did a workout in my gym.
– Have the candles been blown out?
– I think one.
– Round date – does that sound a bit different to you?
– No, none of that. Whether you are 18, 20, or 30, what matters is what you live for, what you do, what prospects you have, etc. This year, I did not focus on the date, nor on the fact that it is a kind of holiday. I have a life, I need to accomplish certain tasks that have been entrusted to me.
– You said you don’t drink alcohol, but you seem to have no ideological consideration like Alexander Shlemenko?
– No ideology, in the last six months I even allowed myself, probably, a few sips of red wine, but not on my birthday. It was like that with alcohol, at 19 I was training in the gym with a legendary fighter… I would even say for me he was just an incredible fighter, and then one day it happens, but training is very hard, as if he had a backpack on his back. And he himself says that it is very difficult, although he plowed with me for 1.5-2 hours. Then he specifies: “Yesterday my friend celebrated his birthday, I drank three bottles of vodka, now it’s hard. And he continues: “I don’t usually drink, but sometimes when I come back from fights to relax, I get really drunk. Once, but very heavily. And I decided that day that I would try to drink. ‘be better than him at least in some way. And until I was 44, I didn’t drink a drop, not a gram, on any birthday. Not on a New Year’s, no matter who. persuaded me there. I think I can even tell you who this athlete was, it is Igor Vovchanchin. I hope he will not be offended.
I have a lot of respect for him as a fighter and as a person.
In general, when I drink, I don’t really like it. It looks like something foreign, not good. If you are really plowing, in good condition, then you generally feel at least something: you are eating a cake or a galette, you are not feeling well. I drink Pepsi or the same wine. The body stops, as if you were pouring a cloudy liquid into the purest mechanism.
– You in the UFC haven’t changed the song for the release since the very beginning of your career. Can you remember how and when the organization got a file with Vysotsky’s song “The Ballad of the Fight”?
– It was given by my main manager at the start of the performances, my wife. When you arrive at a tournament, there is a UFC headquarters there, a room where there are several tables: at one we do the insurance, at the other we take care of the clothes. For one of them, my wife threw the file with this song from a flash drive.
– What song, apart from this one, do you associate with Vysotsky?
– “The hunt for wolves”… I passed the flags by obedience: the thirst for life is stronger. It was only from behind that I heard with pleasure. Surprised cries of people.
– You are famous as one of the lightest heavyweights in the UFC. What will the weight be now?
– Now it will be one of my biggest weights in my entire career. You know, my natural weight is 85 kg. I have to force myself to eat even if I don’t feel like it. In general, I cannot eat for a day in peace. Now I am 110-112 kilograms. For me, it’s a huge weight that is not easy for me to carry. With Derrick Lewis, I weighed 99 kg at the time of the fight.
– I know you’re not interested, but did you manage not to watch the Emelianenko vs Datsik fight?
– Did not work. I communicate with a large number of people from various fields of activity. We discuss various subjects and, of course, they sent me about ten links. I can’t resist opening them, so of course we watched the fight. I didn’t wait on TV for it to start, but I watched it.
– Share some impressions. Was what had to happen?
– People said different things, one of the friends said that Sasha was sorry. Although he has done a lot of stupid things in life, he seems to have calmed down lately, started to lead a normal life, so it’s a shame. I guess I’m closer to that person. I’m not going to gloat and say “this is what you need”, I won’t. Someone had to lose: Datsik or Sasha. Somebody had to have it, Sasha got it. I do not rejoice: Datsik is well done, Sasha, do not give up, do not lower your head, it matters what kind of person you are, and not what kind of sport you are.
– You said that names like Ilir Latifi brought you into the room. Was it easier for you to train, since your opponent is a fairly well-known fighter?
– Latifi doesn’t have a legendary name. Fortunately or unfortunately. He did not cause me any “extragas”: neither in training, nor in my mood, there was nothing like that I just turned this name around in my head.
It’s disheartening that we fought him earlier, prepped, arrived for the fight, went through all the procedures, weighed in, stayed the night, packed all our stuff for the fight, packed our bags and the message “there will be no fight” happens. Three hours before the tournament. We weren’t compensated for it, we weren’t explained. He just got sick, that’s all. We went home after making all the preparations They took another fight, won it, and now Latifi again. And now it’s already in my head, and suddenly it will be canceled again. Feeling of deja vu: I have already done all that, I already went to fight with him, I gave these interviews.
– You can weigh 99 kg for a height of 187 cm. Khabib’s weight is now around 90kg with a height of 178cm. You are considered the two strongest grapplers in Russia – would you be interested in fighting him?
We have different types of wrestling. Interesting? Well, I’ll gladly fight Khabib, but there’s nothing like me sleeping and seeing how I fight Khabib. I can even tell what’s going to happen: he’s going to transfer me and take a position behind his back or keep it on his shoulder blades and that’s it, and I’m going to try hard to get him to turn around a bit, I’m going to trying to bend my elbow, crawl behind my back, or twist my heel, something like that. He won’t give me a reception – he’ll fill me up and hold me, and I’ll try to get out of an awkward position and do my own thing.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
