Valentin Moldavsky joined Fedor Emelianenko’s team in 2015 and went from a 0 win, 0 loss fighter to an 11-2 heavyweight, former Bellator interim champion and one of the most famous fighters in the Fedor team. Moldavsky fought Bader in early 2022 and lost via controversial decision. Before him, two other representatives of the Fedor team fought with Bader: Vadim Nemkov won by knockout (August 21, 2020), and Fedor himself lost in January 2019, missing a heavy blow in the 35th second of the fight.
The next fight between Emelianenko and American heavyweight champion Bellator Bader will take place on February 4 in Inglewood (USA). According to Fedor, the fight will be the last of his career.
– I remember watching Fedor’s first fight live in early 2009. Then Fedor fought with Andrei Orlovsky. Which fight did you watch first?
– SO. That’s when he cut Brett Rogers (November 2009. – “”). And I was in a bar, I was 18, I was studying in first year. And just then I first heard about Fedor Emelianenko. It was as if we knew Fedor at that time.
– What level were you then as an athlete?
– I just switched to sambo and judo [из греко-римской борьбы], won the Ukrainian combat sambo championship (Moldavsky grew up in the Crimea, since 2015 he lives in the Belgorod region. – “”). So already I had some thoughts that I could move in that direction.
– When you watched the fights in the cage, did it not seem hard enough or was it interesting to try?
– Well, hard, yes. Well, that’s how hard it is. Although I do it professionally, but it really is. I wanted to try, thank God it turned out better than it could have.
– You said that Fedor called you when you were riding in a minibus and offered to train in his team.
— In 2015. Then I lived in the Crimea, returned from the hall to the apartment.
– Do you have a number?
– Of course not. I did not wait for a call, I just sat in my Crimea, trained. We knew him, I won the Russian Cup, the European Championship, but at these tournaments we talked a little and that’s it.
– Did he give you a lot of advice that shaped you as an athlete?
“Mostly…everything. How to relax the shoulders, how to relax the upper body, how to work in the shuttle, there is more rope work for the mobility to come. He showed different exercises, how to beat in a sitting position, so that the shoulders work. Many things.
– Emotionally, do you regret that he is ending his career?
– Yes, only one stage in a person’s life ends. There are emotions, but to put sadness directly, it doesn’t exist. We do not stop communicating with him, he remains in my life. Probably enough.
– Why didn’t you fly to the USA this time?
– I am preparing for my fight (on March 10, Moldavsky will fight against Linton Vassel in the USA. – “”). With Vadia [Немковым] we are in contact, we went to the same competition with part of our team, we were just talking. We write off, do not touch Fedor, he adjusts in his own way.
– You’ve fought Bader before. Explain why it is difficult to win against him?
“It’s hard to beat him with coronavirus. If I was in a normal state…Although I’m not saying he’s a weak fighter. He’s explosive, at the same time he can fight hard, he can throw a kind of splash, which he did in the battle with me. But in terms of sensitivity and ability to hit, Fedor certainly won’t give in to him. If it’s to land a blow, Fedor can As was the case with Timothy Johnson, this fight could also have been tougher if Timothy had started pressing Fedor to the net, crushing him, wearing him down, but that’s precisely to catch a hit – Fedor can do it calmly, so there is every chance.
– I reviewed the fight between Chick Kongo and Bader . Bader there, literally in the 10th second of the first four rounds, moved Kongo to the net for the transfer. Did you pay attention to it?
– Yes, I didn’t seem to press hard against the net. It’s understandable if you’re fighting with a wrestler. With somebody. You will create the conditions for him to transfer you. You can walk away, of course, but Bader, if he sees he can push towards the net, will pass it and take it out.
– Everyone praises Fedor’s right hand. Did he have a shot today?
– There’s… Listen, if you remember like that, he planted a lot of people with his left hand. They might not be the strongest opponents, but with Hong Man Chem and Zuluzinho, he knocked his left hand down with his right hand, or closed his eyes then planted it with his left hook. And in principle, he can hit with the left from below. He hit Sonnen with his left hand, semi-uppercut, semi-lateral. Raised from below. And the left hand works well there.
– Let’s say Bader transferred to the ground – Fedor often goes to receptions from below?
“He always hits them well. When we worked with him, he came out well on the hand several times, however, I came out. Bent lever, kimura – these are all subjects with hands, he tries them all the time.
– Vadim Nemkov dropped Bader after a kick to the head, and Fedor is hitting hi-kicks today?
– I don’t know. I didn’t see anything like it in training camp. The low-kick beats, but I didn’t see the hi-kick (kick to the head. – “”).
– Fedor was preparing for the same jab with a pitch (photo above. – “”), which he missed the first time?
– We were preparing, I threw on the two, we worked out protection against it.
– “Both”, because he hit you with an overhand right…
– Yes, and we have also developed protection against this. In my preparation, everyone concentrated on his left, and he [Бэйдер] she didn’t hit me, but right it happened from where they didn’t expect it.
– That is, you and Vadim beat this move.
– Yes. Looks like I did pretty much the same thing.
Is it correct to think that Bader is trying to disguise this kick as a pass to the leg?
– Not really. Because he bends down, a person may have the reflex that he is going by the way.
“In an ideal world, how would you fight back?”
– I think you can stretch and charge a high-kick. When Vadya was preparing, we worked on it. There isn’t even a high kick, but at body level, if kicked with good timing, it will hit the head. His head will be level with the body. He dodges to go headlong.
– The people who support Fedor are worried about what will happen if the fight drags on?
– Accept. Fedor makes five-round fights on par with everyone else, but Bader will have even better chances for a long time.
– Many do not understand why Fedor leaves immediately in exchange. I would explain this by the fact that as long as he has cool and fast hands it should be used, there is no point in waiting for something.
– Maybe. He really has the last pan or lost fights. Although with Johnson he didn’t fight like that. Everything was calculated there.
– Emelianenko vs Bader – 2 fight begins. What do you expect from everyone.
– Honestly, I do not know. I hope Fedor seizes the moment and catches it on the punch. Bader will probably translate, or maybe try the mah-mah on his hands first, and if he gets a response, he’ll immediately look for a fight.
– On the Internet you can find such a theory that Fedor is a bit darling to train in your gym. Again, you can say that’s not the case.
He has both speed and strength. And he is an adult, he decides his career. Anyone who wants, he can relate to his desire to perform, if anyone wants to think so, let him think, but why should someone decide for a person to fight or not.
– But there is no such thing as “dad came to training” and they try to work with him more carefully?
– Depends on what “dad” is. It is clear that at this age there are already more injuries. But it can be so not only with Fedor. I can come and ask you to work somewhere more carefully. Vadik can say something like this, for example, the left leg is injured, no need to sit down. But it’s not a question of authority, any of us can ask it, they say, I don’t feel well.
– Alexander Vasilyevich Michkov said that the first fight turned out so bad also because Fedor had a condition with which he could usually withdraw from the tournament. Do you understand what he meant? I heard about the knee and the cold.
– Well, it was all there together, but again, it’s our choice. And this is our income. If you didn’t get out, you didn’t win anything at all. I went out and took something. Well and more all the same luck. How can you refuse if it’s the Grand Prix final?! I did not know everything, at that time he was not preparing with us.
– During a press conference, he was asked if he would be interested in boxing in an exhibition fight. It doesn’t seem like boxing, especially against an MMA veteran or blogger, is comfortable for him.
– Quite possible. But Fedor will decide. They pay well there, maybe Fedor will think, rest and decide, why not.
– I wouldn’t like to see him there, but looking at the style of the current Fedor, you think he could be very dangerous bare knuckle.
– It’s clear that he won’t fight there, so it’s hard to say here. In general, people today want glasses, so someone likes this kind of sport. It seems to me that it is quite easy to check this, but you can go to any tavern, misbehave and very quickly figure out if it works or not, to play bare-knuckle.
– The main thing is that Fedor does not decide to test himself like this.
I’m sure he won’t.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
