“There was no desire to chase Nurmagomedov’s name.” A fighter from Rostov will fight for a million dollars in the USA

The Bellator League launched the Grand Prix in the lightweight category in 2023, which included two Russian fighters: Alexander Shabliy (Rostov-on-Don) and Usman Nurmagomedov (Makhachkala). The winner of the eight-man tournament would take home the championship belt and a million dollars. Shabliy and Nurmagomedov could have fought in the final in 2024, but Usman violated anti-doping rules almost at the same time as Alexander won his semifinal. At the Bellator 301 tournament in Chicago, the Russian smashed the face of Brazilian Patricky Freire and did not notice that he missed “five punches” in five five-minute rounds.

— You won all five rounds without any options. How quickly did it become apparent that you were fundamentally better at stand-up?

— After the first two minutes, we already see something: first the opponent is fresh, then the speed decreases and we see that he is at another level. And at the same time, his battle plan becomes clear. In general, in the first round everyone was a little tight, but then it became clear. The only thing I kept in mind throughout the fight was that the main thing was not to miss a single shot, not to lose concentration.

— Your fight lasted 25 minutes of pure time. During this time, does anything manage to pass through your head as a fully formed thought?

– No, you mainly focus on the fight. Only Dima Smolyakov (former UFC heavyweight – approx. “”) distracted me from time to time, when he shouted and encouraged me. We agreed with him – I put him in the VIP, but he does not distract me, because I was with him in fights and I know how he screams. In the end, I only heard him. As we understood each other later, it seemed to him that somewhere I was taking a break, slowing down the pace, and having my own battle plan.

“Sometimes fighters lose fights with a cleaner face than you currently have.” Are you surprised to see such damage visually?

“I was actually surprised to have bruises.” He came out after the fight and didn’t even look in the mirror, didn’t talk to people, didn’t give interviews. And then I turned the camera on and looked and I got bruises. An injury: he scratched me with his glove and hit me directly in the eye in the fifth round. I actually missed about five punches throughout the fight, but I didn’t lose a single one.

– Does something hurt?

— My leg hurts, I hit a low kick several times and I dropped my leg. I kept the ice for an hour, we will go for an examination in the morning, we will have time before departure.

—At the same time, your opponent’s face was even more broken, did you pay attention to it?

– I was looking for a place where there are no balls to plant.

— To what extent is it possible to intentionally cut with permitted moves?

– More likely, no, I didn’t feel like I was dealing a very violent blow. I see his hole has opened. One more – one more. And he also defended himself well with his elbows. Apparently he was ready to work on defense.

— It was your first five-round fight. How does it feel?

“I expected it to be harder.” It seems like you’ve been fighting for a very long time. You stay focused in your head for a long time.

“Some fighters say, ‘I can fight a second time tonight.’ » Can you imagine now that you have to fight more?

– Another five-round fight? Hmm…I trained twice a week for five rounds and felt comfortable. Now I no longer fought, I worked constantly on my feet. There would be a fight… Although in a fight you also rest in your own way: in the stand the energy is spent, because you are always focused and always work explosively. I worked the five laps at a good pace, maybe if we had fought it would have been a little easier. I wouldn’t have fought another five round fight anyway, but I felt good

— To summarize: wrestling is more physically exhausting, while standing is more mentally exhausting?

– One hundred percent. When you move and shake, your head gets tired. Boxers understand this. When you move on to wrestling, you can relax a little in this regard.

— In the context of the UFC, it is striking that you fight in shorts that you choose yourself; sponsor equipment does not provide them to you here. How do you choose what to fight in?

– It’s different. My coach, Sharap Gitinov, brought me my previous shorts. I took them and stuck logos on them. It happens that we cooperate with some companies and they offer several options. I wanted to fight on courts, and I chose. Additionally, Bellator treats Russian sponsors strictly. They took away almost all my businesses. We even have a project related to gaming and the crypto industry, they banned it. There is a port company in Rostov, in which the state does not seem to be involved, they have also banned it. But I made a little logo and I didn’t show it to them.

— Did you really manage to leave the logo on the shorts?

– Yes.

“I also noticed that certain types of shorts stick to your legs and don’t allow you to hit properly. Is there really such a problem?

– Yes I have. I specifically took the shorter ones and put them over short leggings that were longer than the shorts. I don’t like models that look like swimsuits, but, for example, when I fought with Tofik Musayev, I had long ones, it was really uncomfortable for me to punch, and I planned to hit my leg with low blows.

– Can you imagine what will happen next, given that the Bellator league was sold to the PFL league?

— Bellator will continue to hold tournaments under its brand next year, but there isn’t even a date for the next tournament yet. I would like to win the belt, defend it and then move in another direction.

– Can you imagine who you will fight with in the Grand Prix Final, given that the runner-up, Usman Nurmagomedov, was suspended due to an anti-doping rule violation?

“I can imagine it being AJ McKee or Brent Primus. For example, in April.

— We were recording an interview after your semi-final fight, and then Usman came to congratulate you during our conversation. You haven’t seen each other since then?

– No, I haven’t seen him again.

— When the news of his dismissal emerged, did you write off?

– No. We didn’t even follow each other, we just had a conversation at the tournament at the time. So what can I write? Support?

– We have the feeling that it will be a bit fake, provided we fight.

– I really don’t understand, yes, such moments. There is no hatred between us, we can communicate, but I can’t imagine this in my head. For example, yesterday Pitbull (the nickname of the opponent – approximately “”) came up to me before a staring duel and started talking to me. He started asking me where I live, what city I am in. And I understand that the person wants to reconnect with me. And he becomes weaker in my eyes.

– You and Usman have the same manager – Rizvan Magomedov. What did you ask him when you learned that Usman was dropping out?

– I came to fight. At one point, messages started circulating: “doping-doping-doping”. Local fighters and trainers started giving me money. There were no details. I called Rizvana. My first question is: “Did you know?” » He said, “Well, yes… You are fighting now. Why do you need to think about this?

— Are you, as an athlete and a potential opponent, satisfied with the version that Usman is generally a clean athlete, his test is precisely a violation of the rules related to therapeutic exceptions or the use of drugs that will delay substances banned by the anti-doping commission?

— As for my opinion, everyone can be wrong. The guy was attacked by a lot of people. Even though he is potentially my rival, I understand that he is not in the best position, his older brothers are not very happy with this situation. And as the youngest in the family, he probably doesn’t feel very good about himself. We have to wait until the “B” sample is opened or they tell us how it all happened. In any case, everyone has the right to make mistakes.

— Were you upset or happy when you realized you won’t fight Usman in the final?

—At first I actually thought it would be bad if the belt wasn’t in Grand Prix. This was immediately a problem for me. But I had no desire to chase Nurmagomedov’s name or get excited about it. I have to admit that some Bellator tournaments have low promotion, after all, Bellator is more about winning big money.

—Are Primus and McKee the worst opposition to Usman?

– Primus, of course, is inferior, he lost to Usman, and I beat him by knockout. And Mackey is very famous here, he’s a tough guy. He can be compared to Michael Chandler from the Bellator era, if he joins the UFC, he will shine as a big star there as well.

— Two fighters from your gym lost very important fights in the last ten days: Yaroslav Amosov and Sergey Pavlovich. What do you think?

– I did not expect that. I thought Yaroslav would win against Jason Jackson, because Yaroslav’s wrestling seems to be more technical, and from a standing position he can separate and deceive. Jackson doesn’t seem like a champion to me. As for Sergei, it was an unfortunate defeat, an offensive defeat. But he’s young, he’ll come back. If Sergey had hit himself a little harder… I think he sat in the gym for a long time, waited a long time for the fight and was like a replacement fighter for a long time. He will now fly to Russia, work on his boxing a little and will be a champion.

— Do you watch heavyweight fights?

— I’ve watched Seryoga’s past fights, but in general, this rarely happens. In our hotel, next to the hall where the fighters live, there is a large window, and you can look through it while the guys train. You can watch someone workout over breakfast at 11am. My favorite thing to watch was the fight between Rinat Fakhretdinov and Denis Tyululin. They are two teammates, but the coaches were shocked by the way they fought.

— You had five fights in Bellator, including two in Grand Prix. Would it be accurate to say that the basic financial terms of the UFC would not suit you currently?

– Absolutely not. Bellator’s top fighters, about three at each weight, are paid very well. And at the same time, I know cases of Bellator champions who could only go to the UFC for less money. We are not talking about Michael Chandler, on the contrary. But in general, other guys who could advance to champion status were offered less than in Bellator.

— The Grand Prize winner receives one million dollars. What does the finalist get?

— In the semi-finals, you simply fight according to your contract. But in the final, there is a championship fight anyway, and a champion fight is worth more money than a regular fight.

— During your entire participation in the Grand Prix, did you allow yourself at least once to think about how you would spend a million dollars?

– I haven’t thought about it yet. And when you start to think about it, it doesn’t seem like much.

Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.