Usually people do not enter the UFC with the statistics of Tyulyulin: when Denis was signed he was 33 years old, of which he spent 9 years in fights, won 8 and lost 6 fights. More than modest figures. But the Russian was ready to fill in on short notice and received a full contract with the UFC in gratitude.
When you read this interview, you should know that the print version did not include the “What are you bro” bundles. When you read other interviews, there will be requests from Denis not to associate him with football hooligans. “They’re just giving wishful thinking,” Denis said of congratulations from a popular football-related audience. Finally, if you subscribe to Tyulyulin’s telegram, there will be no video of a nurse fainting while sewing a cut on a fighter’s lip. At this point, the athlete asks the second doctor: “Do you need help? Help?” But we know such a video exists.
For his third UFC fight against Gregory Rodriguez (13-5), Denis was preparing with Fedor Emelianenko and, speaking from a hotel in Boston, explained how helpful it was.
– You trained in Sochi in the team of Fedor Emelianenko. Nikita Krylov, who was also at these training camps, said that Fedor opens up in a completely new way in combat: much more sociable, humorous. Did you feel it?
– Certainly! We didn’t know each other at all before I went, and it opened in a different way, many don’t know it like that. Sociable, ready to support, help in the training process. He was a person who is interested in your victory, in your development. In addition, he is sociable, but during training there is the most rigid discipline. Communication, help, error analysis – after. After training, we could already laugh, discuss, joke.
– Judging by the seminars, he usually explains errors quite simply, but at the same time effectively. What did he advise you?
– The main mistake for everyone is that we do not twist our shoulders and, probably, we still have to move. Fedor is always very mobile, light on his feet.
Did you manage to train with him?
– Yes, of course, even at the first training camp [в Приэльбрусье].
– Many who watched his last fight now say with confidence that Fedor does not shoot at a certain level. Could you refute it?
– Yes, that’s nonsense. I am going to explain. Yes, somewhere he had a defeat, many professional athletes have defeats, a person loses for various reasons, we will not list them. It is clear that there are professional athletes who start with a zero. Every sport has them. And someone walks away with that zero. But others continue to perform, people get high, fight as hard as they can. And about Fedor – I recently read about boxing (Emelianenko spoke about the desire to compete under the rules of boxing. – Approx. “”), but I think he can compete in MMA. And at the training camp it was like this: at seven in the morning, exercises – he was doing exercises. The first, the second training – he is also with us all the time. So it was at these training camps, and the previous ones as well. Perhaps due to age there are nuances in recovery, there are injuries. I don’t know them, but I see that the person is constantly with us, is doing it.
– What is the main difficulty when you train with him?
– Serialization, what he had in battles; it hits well in series. You can tell I felt what he used to win, how he did it. He is faster, very fast for a heavyweight. I think the heavyweights were coming out and just couldn’t keep up with him. It is clear that we can now reflect and reflect on how it was, but its speed is very serious.
– What could you talk about apart from the training?
— We communicated easily on any subject. Many are interested, ask … It happens, they say it looks gloomy, but in fact it does not. Everything was very good, warm atmosphere.
– You generally have a very happy way of communicating – to understand, could you swear in front of Fedor?
– I am 35 years old and Fedor is more loyal to adult fighters. But I don’t swear to him, I don’t allow myself that. I think that’s wrong – he’s older. Each team has its own rules, and when you get there, you try to control yourself. If a person does not swear, if it is unpleasant for him, why do it?
Did his coaches or Fedor himself watch your opponent’s fights?
– When we were at training camp, we watched with the coaching staff, with Alexander Vasilievich (Michkov), called him. Now Alexander Sidorin and Nikolai Aleksakhin flew to the United States with me, Alexander Igorevich also watched. In general, this time I will try to do everything according to plan, and not just fight. I was specifically preparing for a certain tactic, we’ll see what happens.
– Would it be correct to say that you only heard of Gregory Rodriguez when you were assigned to a fight?
– It is correct to say that I saw him – I watched his fight with Armen Petrosyan – but I did not know his name.
– He fought Armen for three rounds, did you get anything out of that fight?
– Of course, any three-round fight will be informative… He doesn’t like to be in a hurry, when he’s crushed. He himself is healthy, strong, he uses it, but at the same time he gets tired and numb. I can’t say he drives to exhaustion, but his speed is decreasing, apparently he drives a lot.
– In the last fight, you lost against Yun Yong Pak, then he beat Albert Duraev. Were you surprised by the result of this fight?
– To be honest, I… [очень удивился]. Apparently the UFC is changing everything. I’m not putting myself down, but I was sure Albert would downgrade him. Because at first I thought it was bullshit that just happened to me. But when it passed Albert, I was very surprised, because I thought Albert was a train. In fact, he looked very good with Rodriguez: he hung on, couldn’t finish it and already missed it himself. It can be said that the Korean generally cleaned up Rodriguez (Tyulyulin’s former rival lost to the current one in 2021. – Approx. “”).
– You fought a lot with Sean Strickland, the official UFC title contender. Were you surprised that he passed two fighters from Dagestan (Abusupyan Magomedov and Nassurdin Imavov) and is now fighting for the belt?
I didn’t follow them very closely. And I trained with Sean for eight months, I can say my opinion. First, I didn’t see such that Strickland was resting and not training. He always has a way. If there are no injuries, he always does one training session a day: wrestling or sparring. Training two or three times a week is normal for him. It turns out that he is still in condition and at the same time is not overloaded.
Secondly, from the outside, it seemed to me that Abusupyan seemed to be very driven and plowed. I’m more than sure he reworked. Also, probably, before the fight, I caught functional tension, because I fought with the top, with one of the best fighters of his weight. Those who fight will understand.
– In interviews and social networks, Strickland perfectly conveys the image of a reckless American. Can we say that he is the fighter you would take with you to a street fight and trust him?
– I can’t say that, people change in the street. A person can be a super professional, but they get lost in the street, and I can’t tell you anything about it. We communicate with him, his hobbies are male: motorcycles, weapons, fishing, but many people have such hobbies, and at the same time they can run away to the streets.
– You come out to the Military Clan band song “In deed”. If I understood correctly, most people recognized her because in the 2000s, she was seen playing a video where football fans fight. Did you see her there?
– Yes, yes, of course, there. Here is a video where someone then shouts “Sit down!” In fact, the guy who sings this song even texted me, said hello. I thought about changing it, but now I definitely won’t, and the guys say it looks cool.
Do you know anyone fighting in this old video?
– Who is in this video – no.
– Do you know anyone who fights in other videos?
– Of course not. You are already starting to ask yourself questions.
– They sometimes write about you that you are interested in football and even support Spartak in some way.
– Sometimes yes, I have friends watching. I hear what they are talking about, I watch something, but nothing more.
– Can you name three Spartak players you remember the most?
– Tsymbalar, Tikhonov and Khlestov.
– What do you remember?
– Khlestov is a good defender, tough. As a child, I played in “Change”, and he graduated from it. I personally know Tikhonov, we were introduced by friends. With Tsymbalar, it is clear that there were no intersections.
– What do you think of Artem Dziuba?
– (Laugh). I have a close friend and they are Kents. I’m not so immersed in football to gauge his level, I’ve seen him more… I’ve seen him more in furious moments, like that popular video and stuff like that. I know he seems to be playing well.
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.
