“If I took the fork, I wouldn’t be able to hold it properly after the fight.” How Shlemenko’s student got into the UFC

Pouliaev At the age of 26, once in the UFC, he can become one of the tallest middleweight fighters – 36 hours before the fight, Andrey weighed 84 kg and was 196 cm tall at the show, called in Russia the Dana White Contender Series, he had a very bright fight with American Liam Anderson and got into the UFC.

What we are talking about:

“I found a bet on you, you’re going to win, right?”

— At the beginning of 2022, your MMA statistics were 0-0, you are now a UFC fighter. What are the emotions that come from this?

— The emotions are positive, but so far too many things have happened at once: I saw Dana White, I saw Daniel Cormier, I took a picture with them. Plus, everything is slowly starting to hurt. My leg hurts, my arm hurts, my eyes are a little swollen. But the emotions are good.

— How long after the victory did you find yourself in the room where you were given the contract?

— There was no handover of the contract or signing of any documents as such. The official signing will apparently take place a little later.

– You won by decision. Were you afraid of not getting a contract because your victory was not early?

– I wasn’t worried. Still, the way you win is important. And Liam and I showed a bloody fight, we fought, we fought, it was a great fight. And I think Dana White and the audience enjoy these fights. I was sure everything would be fine.

— Do you remember the first time it was announced that you were going to the UFC?

— The option to perform in Las Vegas came up like this: early in the morning in April, Alexander Shlemenko called me and said: “I have news for you. Then I will tell you.” I am perplexed – what could be there, intrigued. And a few days later, Alexander says: “We will sign you up for the UFC selection.” And at that time I was thinking about the development of my career like this: well, I will have a few fights in the SFC (Alexander Shlemenko’s promotion, Pulyaev fought there seven times – ed. “”), then in the RCC and go to the ASA. I did not even think about the opportunity to fight in the UFC. Not everyone has this chance. Thanks to my team for that.

— The bookmakers didn’t give you a good rating before this fight: your chances of winning were three. Why do you think this happened?

– I don’t know. I only found out about it because all sorts of guys started writing to me on social networks: “Well, how are you feeling? I found a bet on you, you’re going to win, right? How’s your opponent? Are you going to eliminate him?” I say hello to the authors of these messages. And I hope they won’t write me such nonsense anymore.

— Where did you prepare?

— I went through the first stage of preparation in Altai. Sharaf Davlatmurodov held traditional training camps there. And I prepared for the last month and a half in Omsk under the guidance of Andrei Koreshkov and Alexander Shlemenko. They handled the opponent well. Therefore, he did not surprise me with anything – except for the number of my blows he was able to take. He is so bad! I do not know what his head is made of! I hit him in the head, in the liver – he swam several times! I hit him even harder to try to finish him off, but he does not fall! That is what drove me crazy. I have a lot of pain in my left hand now. If I took his fork from him now, I think I would not be able to hold it normally. However, the hand is not swollen and looks normal.

– How much weight did you enter the cage with?

– 91 kilograms. This is basically my normal working weight.

“Did he hit you with something?”

“He threw the inside low kick well and his leg is starting to sag a little bit now. And probably my only mistake was clinching in the second round and letting it translate [в партер]. And also in the third round there were mistakes.

— Your second Andrey Koreshkov used obscene language in the third round because you did not get up during the final blow of the guard.

“Actually, I knew I was in a good position.” He tried to throw triangles, but he threw them slowly. And Andrei didn’t see him from his position. Our backs were turned, and that’s probably why he reacted so emotionally. And I thought: why should I get up? I don’t let him do anything. I also hit him in the head with my elbows. Well, besides, I’m tired.

“Mom is crying – tears of happiness”

— Two bald people spoke to you after that fight: Dana White and Alexander Shlemenko. What did they say?

— I didn’t really understand what Dana said, my English is not very good. He seems to say that everything is fine, beautiful. And Alexander Pavlovich congratulated him. He said that he was happy and proud of me. His merit is very great. I’m talking not only about the training process, but also about the constant practice that I received at the tournaments of his SFC promotion.

— Former UFC champion Daniel Cormier said he expected you to be nervous before the fight. But he looked inside and saw you sleeping. It surprised him.

— And we arrived about four days before the battle. It took a very long time to get here from Omsk, on four planes. We decided not to rebuild, to live here according to Omsk time, so we slept during the day. Everything was fine. But on the day of the fight, it turned out that the departure to the arena was at 13:00 local time. And in Omsk it is two in the morning. Therefore, I could not sleep and was a little sleepy. It turned out that the battle took place at about eight in the morning in Omsk.

— Did working as a security guard in a nightclub help you? It was also possible to fight there at 4am.

“I’m not used to this routine already.”

— Were you worried in the last minutes before the fight?

“Before the fight itself, I didn’t burn at all.” I understood that 15 minutes of dancing and I would go home. And on the day of the tournament, yes, I was a little worried.

— In what ways have you tried to change?

— I listened to music, talked with Andrey, laughed, joked, had fun.

— Do you have any idea what the contract with the UFC will be and when your debut will take place?

— My managers Alexey Zhernakov and Alex Davis asked me when I would be ready. He said it would be good to fight in December. Now I will negotiate. As for the contract, I have no idea. I did not find out anything in advance and did not ask such questions.

— But it is already clear that from this speech you will have to pay federal taxes in the United States (from August 16, 2024, the double taxation agreement between Russia and the United States has been suspended — notes “”).

– Yes, they already told me about it. Well, there is nothing to be done – it affected not only me, everyone fell under it (the standard fee in Dana White’s promotion is five thousand dollars to enter the fight and the same amount if he wins – ed.)

— Who stands out the most from the others in the middleweight division for you?

— I know the champion Dricus Du Plessis for sure. And Shara Bullet also fights often now. A very interesting fighter and performs brilliantly.

– You and him have the same nickname. Are you going to continue to go by the nickname Bullet?

– No, they haven’t introduced me like that even now. I decided that I won’t take the nickname Bullet in the UFC and will take another one. It seems to me that there are enough Bullets in the UFC, we need to choose something more interesting. Indeed, they call me Bullet and, probably, they will call me. But I think that it will be too many bullets for the American audience.

— What will your return flight be like now?

— I have to travel for about 24 hours: Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Istanbul, Moscow. And then, from Moscow, I will immediately return to my parents in Novosibirsk.

— What is the parents’ reaction?

“Mom was crying, she was happy. Tears of happiness.

— Have you ever been tested for illegal drugs?

— Before the tournament, they took an anti-doping test and that’s it.

— Aren’t you afraid of failing the test because of the consumption of certain prohibited drugs?

— I don’t think about it yet. I think I’ll get a list of allowed additives. And now, if I use something, I’ll start from there.

Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.

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