“I was happy with the fight with Dek, but I dreamed and was preparing for another meeting” – Bibulatov

ASA Bantamweight Grand Prix Finalist Magomed Bibulatov admitted he still looked forward to meeting his compatriot at the tournament Oleg Borisov .

Friday in Grozny, Bibulatov beat the Slovak by technical knockout in the third round Tomas Deka in the main bout of the ACA 169 tournament and reached the bantamweight Grand Prix final. Initially, Bibulatov’s opponent was supposed to be ASA champion Oleg Borisov, but he was injured. Borisov defeated Bibulatov by unanimous decision in March 2022 and stripped him of the championship belt.

– This is the fourth Grand Prix of my career, I’m doing it. I always managed to win. Turns out I’m a Grand Prix expert. It’s a joke. Overall, I’m happy. But you know, the fight I dreamed of and looked forward to… Unfortunately, that fight fell through. It’s not my fault, nor Oleg’s. What can you do? They found me a worthy replacement. This was the operational work of Aslanbek Badaev. Dec has proven to be a physically strong fighter, but like I said, he won’t be able to fight. And while standing, I can calculate the force for all five revolutions. And he did his job slowly,” Bibulatov said immediately after the fight.

In the final, Bibulatov will meet the winner of the duo Mehdi Baidulaev – Makharbek Karginov. Bibulatov and Baidulaev represent the Akhmat club.

– In this situation, if you ask me, I would not fight with him (with Baidulaev). But he participated in the Grand Prix knowing of my presence here. I’m number one in the league and I haven’t been asked if I’m going to fight in Grand Prix. And as a result, the rest of the guys knew about my presence at the Grand Prix. In other words, they knew that if we won, we would fight. I support Mehdi. I wish him victory, but he faces a tough fight. The main thing is that he wins, and then we will find a solution,” Bibulatov added.

All ASA tournaments are broadcast live on and Match! Fighter”.