Abus Magomedov has been playing in MMA since 2010 and the fighter made his debut at the age of 19. The Magomedov family moved to Dusseldorf in 2005 and now, 18 years later, they will get to see Abusupyan lead the UFC for the first time. The owner of a popular name in battles entered the best promotion in the world with an impressive record (24-4-1), in the first fight he knocked out Dustin Stoltzfus in 19 seconds and got a very interesting mission . The opponent, Sean Strickland, in the previous fight beat another fighter from Dagestan who moved to Europe. Nasruddin Imavov from Paris suffered. On July 1, Abusupyan needs to show Strickland the full effectiveness of Dagestan’s struggle, then he wants to do the same with the defending champion.
– You fight in the tournament main fight against Sean Strickland, who beat Nasruddin Imavov in the previous performance. Nasruddin said Strickland has such a style that at first glance he can’t box, but you start fighting him and you don’t understand where the punches are coming from. Do you see this feature in Sean?
– Yes, from the outside it looks like he seems like such a boxer who doesn’t normally hit from left to right. But in combat alone, I think such an awkward style can already be confusing. Probably, Nasruddin tried to get the keys from him, he did not succeed, and it is difficult for many fighters. It changes tactics, and then it’s hard to adapt to the opponent when you can’t impose your style.
How many of his performances have you watched?
– I only watched his last fight against Nasruddin in full, and before that I saw, to be honest, fragments.
– Is it difficult to find sparring-partners, who would fight in the same way?
“There is such a thing. The guys who train in my gym did their best to emulate Sean, but it was not easy to find such a partner. I think he’s the only one fighting like that. Kerim Engichek helped me the most, he performs in the categories up to 77 and up to 84 kg (German fighter, statistics 18-4 – “”). Here he was more or less similar in the rack and could imitate him.
– Do you train all the time in Germany?
– Yes, I spent all the preparations in Germany, here [в США] arrived in just two weeks.
– I heard from my friend, who trains in Berlin, that there are about 10% ethnic Germans in martial arts halls in Germany. Most of them are people from Caucasus, Middle East, Eastern European and Balkan countries.
– This is how, for example, in our hall of the Germans there are only two people. And 25 people are not German. There are not so many guys from the Caucasus, but in each room there are 2-3 guys from our region.
– That is, if I come to the room in Germany, I will find someone to talk to in Russian?
At least you don’t need to know German.
– Do you know?
– Yes.
– When Rammstein songs are played, do you understand what it is about?
To be honest, I have never listened to such music. And so, of course, it’s like asking you if you understand what they’re singing when they sing in Russian.
– What song will you be releasing on?
– I will release under “Gangsta’s paradise” Coolio.
– Who in Germany can teach boxing and wrestling for MMA?
– My boxing trainer is from Turkey, he now has a professional heavyweight boxer, European champion. Now he will most likely fight Anthony Joshua in London in August. I train with him (the trainer’s name is Aksu Sukru; the boxer is Agit Kabayel, 23-0 in boxing. – “”). Wrestling is coached by Max Schwindt, a guy from Kazakhstan. Very experienced, he behaved well as an athlete, triple world champion among juniors. And he’s got wrestling, which he’s been adapting for MMA for eight years. There are quite a few grappling coaches, and they change periodically: every six months, they come from Brazil, train, leave. We don’t have a permanent grappling coach.
– When was the last time you were in Dagestan?
– In 2005, when he left.
What do you remember from that time?
– What I remember, in my opinion, everything is already gone, but I am in contact with the guys. I know what is happening. I lived in Dagestan until I was 15, I have a lot of friends with whom I keep in touch, a lot of relatives.
– I heard that there are distant relatives of Khabib who live in Germany.
— Yes, they just live in my town. So I discovered the Nurmagomedovs before that name was known. Here in Dusseldorf there are literally 3-4 families [из Дагестана]. And we try to communicate, to know each other. This, as I understand it, is Khabib’s second cousin, Abdulmanap’s nephew.
– Is any of those you can call in Dagestan professional?
Yes, a lot of fighters. I communicate with Shamil Musaev. There are a lot of guys from Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s gym. If you call, we’ll sit here for half an hour while I list everyone. Stay in touch with everyone.
— I have heard about Düsseldorf that it is a very prosperous city, where there are many banks and an active commercial life.
– Likewise, Dusseldorf is the MMA capital of Germany, and most of the top fighters live in Dusseldorf. There are many rooms here. I don’t know of a city where there would be so many, probably only Frankfurt.
– And it looks like an expensive city?
– I have a big family, and to live normally, you need at least five rubles a month, 5,000 euros. Paying rent, paying bills, insurance, car insurance. More food. And that’s living like that, average.
– When was the last time you were able to fight in the street?
“It could have happened when I came here. It was still so fresh, so wild… it happened at school: someone said something and started laughing. You think they’re laughing at you, and I immediately started bullying there. And now I only remember the case, probably in 2015. I played here in the Bundesliga in wrestling competitions. And slapped a man. And now it’s been eight years, I recently applied for citizenship and got a notification that in 2015 I slapped someone in the face. And now I have to wait another two years. That is, 10 years must pass and during this time you can have no fines, nothing. And I even forgot about it saying, “Well, that’s just a slap in the face to the competition.” But these are the laws. It turns out that for another two years I can not violate them in any way. In principle, many people already know me in my city, and something like this rarely happens. I don’t need to force.
– You have a few days before the weigh-in. What is the weight now?
– We checked this morning – I have 6 kilos left. I will clean with water. In general, I run a little for this weight class. Many for 84 kg drive much stronger. I started the diet yesterday.
– You have a powerful wrestling base – what do you think when you look at the current champion and the last competitor (Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira – two base kickboxers). Do you think the two are ideal opponents for you?
– It’s a good chance to become a champion. In fact, the fight will be before the first pass.
“So if you transfer, Adesanya won’t get over you?”
“If I move him, he certainly won’t get up. I won’t let him get up. It will simply be raised.
— Rise to ex-champion status?
– I think so.
The broadcast of the UFC tournament: Strickland vs. Magomedov will begin July 1 at 10:55 p.m. on . Yana Santos, Damir Ismagulov and Rinat Fakhretdinov will also perform at the tournament. Live broadcasts of the Mixed Martial Arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
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.
