“I think Henri was robbed of the Ballon d’Or. The strongest ASA heavyweight – about football, 11 km run and fight against Asbarov

To the casual viewer, Russian fighters from foreign promotions often appear more dangerous and tougher than those competing in Russia. But here is a simple comparison that will help overcome this problem.

Anatoly Malykhin, going to the belt and defending the One beltdefeated Alexandre Machado, Amir Aliakbari, Kirill Grishchenko, Rainier de Ridder and Arzhan Bullar. Valentin Moldavsky on his way to interim Bellato titler surpassed Carl Semanutafu, Ernest James, Linton Vassell, Javi Ayala, Roy Nelson and Tim Johnson. ASA Champions Victories Evgenia Goncharova looks like this: Zelimkhan Umiev, Tony Johnson (twice), Daniel Omelyanchuk, Anton Vyazigin and Mukhumat Vakhaev

If it is difficult for you to understand who has the most brutal opponents here, imagine how a man named Ayala will fight against a man named Vakhaev, and you will understand everything. Or take my word for it, Evgeny Goncharov, yes, hasn’t competed overseas, but he’s a very cool heavyweight who could make many famous fighters sad.

On February 9, Goncharov will defend his belt and try to reach the ASA League Grand Prix final in a rematch against the “giant of Cherepovets” Anton Vyazigin. It would seem that during his 12-year career in Russia, we talked with Goncharov about everything, but we found several topics:

“300 kg in deadlift, 190 in bench press”

— You and Anton Viazigin suddenly looked at each other intensely. Are you surprised that your fight is so electric?

– Of course, such a fight will be electrifying, because tomorrow we will go out and try to hit each other with all our might, knock each other out. We won’t compliment each other or give flowers. It will be a fight between two men who want to win at all costs. We will have courage and there will be sparks.

— Much attention is drawn to the fact that you work with professional boxer Dmitry Kudryashov both as a second and as a sparring partner. But anyway, you’re an MMA fighter, and I’d like to understand who you trained with for this fight?

— I train grappling with Vitaly Bigdash. He is a former One Championship champion, very good on the field, fights well, weighs around 100 kilos, very tenacious and physically strong, and above all, he is technical on the field, so technically speaking he brings me a lot. As for freestyle wrestling, Mikhail Pichugin, winner of the Deaflympics in freestyle wrestling, we spend many hours on the wrestling mat.

— So, are you more accustomed to preparing when you get two or three people together and they help you hone specific skills, rather than being among a lot of heavy hitters?

– Yes, of course, and that’s how I try to work. There is a certain plan, it requires certain skills that I am trying to improve. And I don’t try to gather 6-7 people around me – this doesn’t bring any benefit.

“Nowadays, many people often say: “We have to go to Dagestan to train. » Explain why you are not going to Dagestan?

– Everything has its time, everything suits me in my camp. I think the best is the enemy of the good: if I win by doing what I do, why should I change anything?

— What do your sparring sessions with Dmitry Kudryashov look like in detail?

— We have boxing fights: in shoes, in 18-ounce boxing gloves, in the ring, in helmets. And total contact. No one works without enthusiasm. This is how Dmitry usually hits, this is how he hits me during the fight. And we played a lot of tricks with him.

— Dmitry Kudryashov has done extremely powerful things. Have you done anything similar during joint training?

— We trained with him at the gym. I can say that my records are 300 kg deadlift, 190 kg bench press, and I squatted with a weight of 250 kg.

—Have you ever run 10 kilometers?

— Yes, I ran a lot of cross-country races. I ran 11.5 kilometers in 56.5 minutes. I am a good runner.

— In your opinion, who will beat who faster in time: you beat Soslan Asbarov (MSMK in boxing, after amateur he turned professional in bare knuckles, where he beat Alexei Papin and Dmitry Kudryashov. — Rating « “) in MMA, or is it in your box?

“I don’t think his boxing victory with me is directly guaranteed. I can box. I box with Dmitry, why can’t I box with Soslan? For me, Soslan Asbarov is not Mike Tyson. I am superior to him in size, so it depends on the distance in the fight. And in MMA he is unlikely to compete with me.

— ASA Vice President Aslanbek Badaev said that you will win against Soslan Asbarov in MMA by the judges’ decision. But it seems to me that you can win early with a move, like Randy Couture against James Toney.

“I’m just not going to rush out to fight Soslan in MMA. I will box with him using MMA gloves. I know how to box, I love doing it. And I don’t see anything supernatural about it for me. He’s fast, moves well, but nothing more.

– Do you believe this fight will take place?

– This fight will take place. After the end of the ACA Grand Prix, we will fight in MMA. There are even some numbers, Aslanbek Badaev expressed them on the podcast. They are ready to pay 15 million rubles for this fight. If it suits Soslan, why not?

— You said you weighed 123 kilograms. What does it mean for a heavyweight to lose three pounds for a fight?

— Exercising in the evening and not eating, that’s all. Today, even in a tracksuit, I showed the limit (up to 120 kg – Editor’s note: ).

“Pavlovich and Volkov come first for me”

— About ACA fighters, comparing them to UFC fighters, they constantly say: “What if there were doping controls ?!” What would you answer them?

— As I imagine: doping, which is now popular, is more intended for bodybuilding, for weight gain. I can’t even name off the top of my head the medications that could help you prepare as an MMA fighter. The only thing they can do for you is that you recover better and faster from training. But if you don’t know how to punch or fight, no amount of doping will help you. There were a lot of fights when big, huge guys came out, but they weren’t trained. Integrating doping into MMA is not easy. And this requires specialists of the highest level. One more thing. I don’t think the UFC tests its biggest stars well. Look at Ngannou, look at what Paulo Costa looks like and a number of other fighters… very textured, very tall. I don’t know what diet they follow to look like that.

— Sergey Pavlovich fought for the UFC interim belt, Valentin Moldavsky was the interim Bellator champion, Anatoly Malykhin has the One FC belt. You have an ASA belt. Who would you call the best heavyweight in the world today with a Russian passport?

— I like Alexander Volkov and Sergei Pavlovich, I would put them both in first place. Anatoly Malykhin is good. I think he would have been second. Valentin Moldavsky would probably be third. He’s an explosive guy, we fought with him, he had a great fight. I don’t want to offend anyone, I don’t want to forget anyone, but these names come to mind.

—Who would win the Grand Prix among these four?

— It will depend on who enters the battle and in what form, but they are fighters of the same level.

— Alexander Volkov said that to gain weight, he needed about 5,000 calories a day. Have you tried counting how much you eat?

– But this does not happen to me – I went to a training camp in Volgodonsk, lived in a hotel and ate, one might say, at the level of an ordinary canteen, where workers factory can eat. There was no nutritionist, no one monitored calories. I just ate everything, but I think if I started eating completely out of control I’d be over 130.

— You have a large tattoo on your left hand: how much time and money did you spend on it?

– I don’t remember how much money. I remember it wasn’t cheap. I did it seven years ago. At first I did it with a master – he missed everything: I wanted it to be a little different. Then I found a good master – Ilya from Rostov, who now lives in America. He is a good specialist in ornamentation. I redid it, added shadows and made it look human. In general, I wanted it to be a little different, but we have what we have. About tattoos… I think this is an important point: if it doesn’t bother you, if you don’t pay attention to it every day, then everything is fine. I don’t notice it at all.

— Do you like someone else’s fighter tattoo, because so many people inflict them on themselves.

– No. A lot of guys have them, but I don’t look at anyone closely.

“I watched “The History of Russia in an Hour”

— What can you watch on the Internet that has nothing to do with fighting?

— I went to training camp and watched a film about Russian history. There is a video called “The History of Russia in an Hour”. It was interesting to watch: to refresh my memory of something, but I didn’t know something. I watch comedy shows. I love watching all kinds of football clips. I’m watching “English Accent” – about the English championship.

— Who did you like among the footballers of the 2000s?

— Ronaldo “Nibbler”, Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane.

— Henry from the Arsenal era or the Barcelona era?

— Of course, during the Arsenal era, he did not show this level at Barcelona. I think Arsenal stole the Ballon d’Or from him and I’m sure he should have gotten it.

— What is your favorite match from this era?

— I remember the match where Barcelona faced Chelsea in the semi-final of the 2008/2009 Champions League season. And Iniesta scored in the final seconds to level the score. Barça reaches the final and beats Manchester.

— Who do you remember among the Ballon d’Or winners?

— My favorite football player has always been Lionel Messi. I supported for him, I drowned for him. I wanted him to win another Ballon d’Or. And now, as I understand it, he is already inaccessible in this regard.

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.