Shlemenko’s student Andrei Koreshkov himself explained why he agreed to fight in the main event of the tournament in Omsk at the end of this fight:
– Alexander [Шлеменко] for a long time he asked: “If I can make you fight in Omsk, will you fight?” And I said that if Bellator (the league where Koreshkov plays. – “”) is not against it, then with pleasure.
– And you didn’t even ask about the amount of the costs in this case?
“Shit, of course. How can I ask about this? ! I wanted to talk here, because tournaments are not held so often in Omsk, and only Alexander leads them. And speak in front of my compatriots for my joy. Furthermore, I understand that with my fight I gave promotion to the promotion, it was broadcast on the federal channel. I am happy.
The broadcast on “” was indeed widely picked up under Koreshkov. Andrey was in the main event of Fight Nights last year. Before and after that, he fought in several major fights in the United States. In 2015 he became the Bellator champion and in 2016 he defended the belt. Koreshkov has lived in Omsk since childhood, and after his ballroom dancing lessons were not appreciated in an ordinary school in Omsk, Andrei began to fight very brilliantly at the city and Russian championships in pankration .
It so happened that Alexander Shlemenko was not accredited in the corner of Koreshkov as a second, but coincidentally sat in the front row from the corner from which the student went to fight. From about the 11th second, Shlemenko was screaming noticeably louder than anyone in Koreshkov’s corner.
“You can kick right,” is Shlemenko’s first clue.
Koreshkov’s reaction:
From 21 seconds, Shlemenko is no longer seated in his place. “What if the guards told you you couldn’t do this?” — question after the fight. “We would have fired her,” Shlemenko replies with a laugh.
39th second of the first lap. Shlemenko: “He runs, throw the turntable.” Koreshkov sinks his foot into the opponent’s stomach after a roundhouse kick. One and a half minutes – Shlemenko asks to knock with his knee.
During the break, Shlemenko comes around and offers to hit the liver with a turntable more often. “Just no fuss.”
In general, for a Brazilian fighter, Leonardo da Silva, all this could not end well. Koreshkov moved Leonardo to the floor, started breaking with his hands, improved his position, and as a result da Silva stopped resisting. The referee stopped the fight. Shlemenko said he was surprised at how exciting it was and how well the fighter who arrived held up.
Koreshkov said he would have recognized the voice of his main mentor among a thousand.
– How many people were there in the room, who did you know personally?
– A lot … classmates, classmates, just guys from my circle of friends. Someone from Moscow even came by plane.
– Did you go to the cage and manage to see any familiar faces in the hallway?
“I always try not to look at people when I go out. I’m already so used to it in America: I look in the cage, it’s easier to keep the atmosphere. Today, I don’t I didn’t even pay attention to who was sitting in the front row.
– You have a cut under your eye – did you manage to miss anything?
– I don’t remember, or he hit with a jab, or I jumped with my knee, and he pushed his hand in response.
– Did you miss something else painful?
– There was nothing special. Now my leg is starting to hurt a little from the low kicks. But it’s for two days, I guess.
– Alexander Shlemenko wasn’t officially your second today, but he was still around and incited. You are known to be good at throwing the punches he talks about. And is it easy to do in principle?
I recognize his voice among a thousand. Heard what he said. I tried to do everything. Not everything worked out, of course. I repeat, I really wanted to knock out, it played the wrong way.
– It seems that the fighters themselves say very often that when you want to knock out, you can’t knock out. Why are they getting burned in MMA this time?
“Yeah, you know that very well yourself, but in the fight it’s starting to look like now I’m going to hit him good and that’s it. One hit only. And in the end, you try to invest well in that hit. But when you try to invest, extra moves start to give you away. Either you swing or you hit too long and not so easily. The hit is powerful, but slow. You swing, hit and you get tired.
– As a result, you transferred the opponent and finished. Does the desire to translate have time to take shape in the head or simply on reflexes?
No, that’s exactly what I thought. You understand that he’s not going into the rack, that you have to slow him down. He is not tall, in my memory he is one of the few Brazilians who, coming to Russia, gains weight. I think now I’ll get over him, I’ll tie him up, he’ll get slower and I’ll start punching. But he didn’t live up to that moment.
– It was fashionable to think that all Brazilians know the techniques of Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Did you know for sure about Leonardo da Silva that he wouldn’t surprise you with pain or suffocation?
– I struggle a lot on the ground, and it’s hard to surprise me with something. Especially when I’m on duty. Well, it’s really difficult. He had attempts, but I felt them. I fought with stronger people and they couldn’t do anything to me. I’m not saying that no one in that position will close reception for me, but specifically about him, I knew he wouldn’t do anything to me.
– We were in your locker room, and shortly before the fight, you picked up the phone and looked at something…
– Yes, I forgot the banner at home and asked a friend to pick it up. He said where he was, and not to be confused, he checked the phone. There was an hour and a half before leaving. I gave him the house keys and he left. He’s a close friend – I trust him.
Isn’t he a fighter?
No, childhood friend. Sometimes he comes to work with me.
– You said yesterday that it was exciting to perform in your city. Do you feel let down now?
– There is relief after every fight. But generally, the most unpleasant thing is to be in the locker room before the fight. Now I didn’t have much anxiety. I don’t know why, I couldn’t force myself to worry, although I usually need it for more calm. But after the fight, as soon as they raised their hands, I still felt much better.
– Compare with when you fight in main battles in another country.
– It’s a little different. I have different feelings. Here you are, burning, worried, I don’t know how to explain it to you. And you absolutely have to move, sweat, so that the adrenaline comes out. There you have to catch that middle ground, there are a lot more emotions. Maybe because there you win in a party, as if to upset the public.
– And it’s a fairly well-known stadium in the city, did you play here when you were a kid?
– In his youth, he performed a lot in pankration here. There were championships of Russia of different ages, the Golden Slam Cup. I’ve certainly fought here five or six times.
– You have won the Bellator title, FightMatrix places you at the 33rd place in the world in your category. Do you think you could fight on equal terms with the tops: with Colby Covington, Kamaru Usman?
“Of course I did. It’s clear that now someone will say it’s not my level, but I’ve sparred a lot with the best. Sparring is a bit of an error in judgement, but I think I can beat almost anyone in my weight class.
– And if they proposed, what is your name, any opponent and he holds the next fight with you.
“It was always interesting for me to fight Jorge Masvidal. He was losing to Benson Henderson and Lorenz Larkin, I beat one and lost the other. But before I fought them, I watched him fight them , and I thought it would be interesting to date him.
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.
