“I started lifting weights, now I do heavy weights.” Shlemenko, 40, fights with American big man

Shlemenko turned 40 on May 20, and over the past year he established himself as the leader in the total number of victories among Russian fighters. At the same time, Shlemenko actively organizes tournaments in Omsk and fights for the third time at an event that he organizes himself. Curtis Millender is probably the toughest opponent of all those who came to fight Shlemenko in Omsk: 190 cm and 92 kg a few days before the weigh-in. Millender has very quick feet, a four-fight winning streak and a 3-2 record in the UFC with a loss to Belal Muhammad and a win over former title challenger Thiago Alves. And the funny thing is that a day before the fight, Shlemenko receives a call and asks if he can donate tickets. Furthermore, Alexander says:

“Islam represents our country with dignity”

— You watched Khabib’s fights with Justin Gaethje and Conor McGregor. Will you watch the fight between Islam Makhachev and Dustin Poirier?

— If “Match” shows it, then, most likely, I will watch it. I usually watch because the broadcast time is convenient in Omsk – we already wake up.

— Do you like Islam Makhachev as a fighter?

“He’s left-handed… I even played a little tag with him when I was at AKA in San Jose, but we weren’t really standing. He fights normally, he represents our country with dignity.

— You trained with Alexander Volkov a long time ago, what do you expect from his fight with Sergei Pavlovich?

– I don’t know, honestly. It seems to me it’s 50/50. They know each other, they know the pros and cons. If Alexander manages not to miss the start, then a long fight is his strong point, but the ability to finish fights ahead of schedule is on Sergey’s side. Sergei is more explosive. They are antagonistic to each other.

—Are you interested in watching this or are you upset that two Russian fighters are fighting?

“They did it themselves.” If not how? There are so many Russian fighters now that they will have to fight each other.

— You are fighting an American fighter, Curtis Millender, who has a streak of four victories in MMA and three fights won in boxing. Have you watched his boxing fights?

— I watched his bare-knuckle MMA fight. And if possible, I watched other fights, yes.

— Does this provide information?

“I see that he is very coordinated, very well prepared. A dangerous guy, really dangerous.

“A really dangerous guy”

— Don’t you think that everyone in Omsk will not understand the difference between Curtis Millender, who is really dangerous, and Alex Oliveira, who probably did not fight you in ideal form?

“It seems to me that everything has become clear to everyone, especially after today’s duel of opinions.” And after training, a lot of people said to me: “Wow, how he kicks!” He’s dangerous.” People saw it themselves, I didn’t tell them anything.

— In the UFC, he fought with the second number in the current welterweight rankings, Belal Muhammad. But that fight was a long time ago. Have you watched it?

– No, I didn’t watch this fight. I looked at what I could find. UFC fights are not easy to find on the Internet, and I don’t have a subscription to their platform.

– Journalists really like to call Andrei Koreshkov (Shlemenko’s student and second – ) because he analyzes fights well. Does Andrey analyze your opponents’ fights?

– Yes, we have already resolved the problem. But I won’t tell you what we are preparing. I consult him: when he prepares, I act as his coach, watching him from the side. When I’m getting ready, he knows best, and of course he’ll be the main one around.

— Since almost everyone in your school treats each other very well, can you go toe-to-toe with each other in a fight?

– Well, I let Andrei Koreshkov down a little, but a long time ago and by chance. Yes, it happens, of course. Andrey Koreshkov is letting a lot of people down. First of all, it happens by accident. We do not have such a goal as such. If they had set a goal, there would have been more. Second, if you’ve ever knocked someone down in a fight, you already understand that you can do it. There is no need to check this. In general, knockdowns are more often done in the liver. Personally, me too, because the liver can be attacked more often, the head is more difficult to recover.

“Now we have a coach”

— This year marks the 20th anniversary of the start of your professional career. Is there anything you’ve added to your equipment in the last couple of years?

– Yes, I generally rebuilt the equipment in many ways and continue to do so, continue to improve something. We have a mixed style: first you work on one thing, you improve another – it comes in waves, something is constantly changing.

— In the last two years, have you seen a fight episode that you would take something to practice with?

– This happens periodically. I recently watched Joaquin Buckley fight, when he won, I can’t say I adopted anything specific from him, because I did the same thing myself. But I liked the way he swung the pendulum and worked his hands well, exploding.

— There is now less than a day until the tournament. Is there an organizational question you will be asked in the remaining time?

– Tickets… “Tickets, tickets, tickets,” everyone asks. There are still small things, I won’t talk about them, because they only concern us, but in general we are the ones who decide everything.

— Kamil Gadzhiev told me that when you organize a tournament, you must, among other things, contact the police and obtain their consent.

– We have received everything – this is done in advance. We have assigned roles, Tatiana, who works in our school, is specifically responsible for them, and we recruit free people for each tournament.

– But isn’t it the case that Alexander Shlemenko should come to the police station and say something?

– Of course not. Besides, I’ve never been there. I prepare a letter and that’s it.

— You are organizing a tournament in Russia’s newest hockey arena. Does ticket revenue cover a significant portion of expenses?

“Almost all the tickets have been sold, but you have to understand that the tickets will never cover all the costs, even those of the lighting.

“Let the ASA champion beat me”

— ASA Vice President Aslanbek Badaev will come to the tournament. When and what do you plan to talk about?

“We definitely won’t communicate before the fight.” And then the main thing is that everything works out, that I win, that there is a desire. In fact, do you know how many people, besides Aslanbek Badaev, came to talk to me? From all over Russia and neighboring countries, even from afar. A lot of people come from Germany, they write to me, tell me. It is clear that they are all Russian speakers, Russians who live there. And they come to watch our tournaments!

— Getting back to Aslanbek, do you need to discuss his calling your fight with Kuat Khamitov a “freak fight” or your possible signing with ASA?

“We’ve already chosen the word ‘monster.’ What should you focus on? I believe Aslanbek, of course, added fuel to the fire and said it incorrectly. We all perceive it like this: “freak combat” means that the one who fights is a “monstrous”, and that’s it.

— You said that if the ASA plans to organize tournaments in Omsk, it would be better if they come here with you…

– I don’t know what the ASA’s plans are, if they want to come with me or without me… Now they will accuse me of being arrogant… So I won’t say anything. Let them in, let’s see how they get in without me, what they can do. I really don’t know their plans. I never communicated with them about this.

— Would you accept a fight other than the title fight in ASA?

“I don’t like it when they tell me I can’t do something or that I have to settle for something less (ACA middleweight champion Magomedrasul Gasanov said on social media that ‘he would easily beat Shlemenko and win the fight without a fight. – “”). If they think I can’t handle something, then let their champion beat me. I go quietly. They are 100% sure that he will win. But at the same time, they do it cleverly: they say that I still need a contract for several fights or one fight before that. . Well, you have 100% confidence in your champion, and I have 100% confidence in myself.

— One of your villains said it wasn’t just that you visually improved your shape at 39. Have you really become more important?

— I first became known thanks to my diet: I haven’t eaten sugar for three years, I eat specialized foods. I don’t hide anything from anyone, let them try it themselves. It’s just a very long process. Second, I changed my training system. We now have a physical trainer. I had never rocked before, but now I started rocking specifically. Previously, I did CrossFit complexes more on breathing, with my own weight, now I do heavy weights.

– What for example?

– Well, for example, we did the 190 kilogram deadlift not in its pure form, but in a special simulator, where you are like a farmer [тележку] you lift.

– And there you have it, you can finally ask: “How many benches do you have?” »

— I can bench press 120 kg somewhere.

—You’ve never done these exercises at all before. Did this seem unnecessary to you?

— We don’t just do bench press, we basically have an extensive program. We have a coach Nikita who is especially involved in our physical preparation. I’ve moved on now.

When I created functional complexes for myself, I don’t even think I had children. Now I have five. I had no promotion, no team. And you have to find time for everything. It’s much simpler to work with a coach: you come, he gives you a job, you do it and you leave. Besides, he looks and watches. When someone is watching you, you work differently. It’s always difficult to force yourself.

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.

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