Russian fighter Ivan Shtyrkov In conversation with , he waxed philosophical about the prospects of his MMA career.
Chtyrkov, 35, has 22 victories in MMA, as well as two defeats and a draw. On February 24, Shtyrkov will fight with Vagab Vagabov in kickboxing at the RCC 18 tournament. In the fight in the weight category up to 100 kg, there are three rounds of three minutes each.
— Ivan, in the understanding of all fans, you are an MMA fighter. But your last mixed martial arts fight was in December 2022. Did something go wrong?
“It wasn’t something wrong with me, it was something wrong with the martial arts world. » People suddenly wanted to see MMA fighters in kickboxing or boxing. Boxers on the fist and so on. And this collaboration in Russia was probably launched by Maga (Magomed Ismailov – editor’s note from ). Well, and I… I didn’t even know that everything would turn out like this when I urgently agreed to a kickboxing match with Romankevich. I think it’s a coincidence. That’s not my plan. Overall, 2023 has been a no-plan year for me.
But if you look at my MMA career… Well, where does that go… Well, one more MMA fight, and one more. My career in Russia consists of fights with top fighters. If the communications situation between countries is simpler, they can bring in someone from abroad. As things stand I no longer have any ambitions in terms of belts etc. I’ll be 36 in September, whatever. I tried somewhere – I was there, I was there (Shtyrkov played in the ASA, was signed by the UFC, but did not have a single championship fight – ). My coach said about people like me at the moment: “Everywhere and nowhere” (laughs). I fought here, I played there. Looks like he fought well, but there are no belts. This is the path I took. Right now I have the opportunity to fight and train, and earn decent money in exchange. I enjoy my work and I also make good money from it. This is what many strive for.
But I really want to come back to MMA. Once again, I’m not getting ahead of myself, my fight is February 24th. But the RCC has planned big tournaments in May and August. In general, it was planned to return to MMA in May, but we have not yet discussed the opponent, etc. There’s just an understanding that we need to get back to MMA. I’m associated with an MMA fighter. And I myself already want a full-fledged and normal mixed martial arts camp, and not like that – you prepare for MMA, and then fight in kickboxing. Or you train in kickboxing, and then you suggest a fight with Vagabov in MMA (laughs). I would like to return to this path of MMA, when I knew I had to go to Dagestan, I needed to fight and train there. In general, we got out of the rut a little, but following modern innovations, requests from viewers and suggestions from organizers, ”Shtyrkov told .
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.
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.
