Russian fighter Sergei Bilostenny In an interview with , he admitted that he was unable to perform at the PFL tournament on June 13, after discovering that his US visa had expired on the day of his departure.
At the Uncasville, Connecticut tournament on June 13, Bilostenny was scheduled to fight his compatriot in the PFL Grand Prix tournament. Denis Goltsov but pulled out of the fight for unspecified reasons. After defeating Tyrell Fortune on August 2, the fighter explained why he was unable to travel to America for the scheduled fight.
— At the last tournament you were supposed to fight with Denis Goltsov, but in the end you didn’t go to America. Can you explain why?
— I started to prepare, I started to train, loads, I pass the last tests, they are very bad, because I am really motivated. I felt that if I came to rest, I would be in very good shape, but then it happened like this: I arrive at the airport, I have a stopover in Ireland. I ask the girl at the airport if I need to re-register there or if I can go through the transit zone, because I even have an Irish visa, but it has expired. We started waiting for the airline representative. He came and said that everything is fine, there is a transit zone there, there is no need to re-register. In the transit zone, you pick up your ticket and off you go. The girl asks me for my passport again. I put the luggage on the belt. She asks: “Do you have another passport?” I say no. She: “What passport will you use to enter the United States, where do you get your visa?” I say, “Here it is.” She says, “And you have a visa until today.” End of story.
— You made all the preparations and at the airport you realized that your visa to the United States had expired, how can you find someone to blame in such a situation?
– No one is to blame except me. I immediately called my friends to share the tragedy with someone. My friends, who are also fighting, began to blame the leaders of the organization. And I began to recognize that yes, everyone is bad. And then I think: “You mean everyone is bad? Here is my passport, just open the drawer, look at it, check it.
I also blame Nikita Mikhailov (a fighter from Fedor Emelianenko’s team, competing in the under 61.2 kg category). We received visas on the same day in Bahrain, and then we sat in the dining room in Stary Oskol and he asked me: “Were we given until winter? I say that before winter, we received it on the same day. But this is not his first visa, they gave me one for 16 months, and they got one for two years,” Bilostenny told .
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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.
