Shlemenko loses after a missed knee and a ground finish. The referee stopped the fight 22 seconds after the gong. Usually athletes come to their senses after such defeats, but Shlemenko spoke to reporters for 10 minutes immediately after the fight:
– Before the fight, I wanted to speak with the referee, but he did not come to the locker room. Honestly, I had such thoughts of telling him, “If anything, don’t move on. Well, don’t go.” Don’t know what to say. Not tuned, relaxed somewhere. Even now I watched the replay, no doubt, I missed it. I didn’t see this shot but i started to go up ref should be aware – i have 75 professional fights i am not a rookie i come here for a reason i was not allowed back once more after a miss.
– Can the fight with Ilic be repeated?
– I would like it to be repeated, however, now it does not fit yet. And I would ask another referee.
– How did you personally experience the moment with the stop?
“I didn’t fall face down, I sat on all fours. He started beating me. I didn’t really feel the knockouts. It is clear that when we miss a shot, we are a little lost. Loss of coordination, but you are aware. I was conscious and… hell, you can’t stop like that, I was on all fours, but I wasn’t lying. I was ready for that, even if, well, I don’t know… My opinion is too early.
“Something could distract you before the fight?”
– What’s the distraction here? Everything is fine, understand, just such a case. I said I was distracted: I was preparing for a little wrestler, and they gave me a long beater, who has long arms and legs, he is also left-handed, I knew he could hit me. I watched his fight with Materla, there was a similar situation, he missed a shot at the very beginning, but they gave him the opportunity to come back, but they didn’t give it to me. Understand, I never even pecked forward, I fell on my hands. I’m not saying I was in great shape, I was shaken. But I am a professional athlete. Even remember the fight between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson: Fedor was on all fours, Dan hit, Fedor pecked forward, and only after two such hits did the fight stop. And for some reason, I immediately. That’s what happened today. What can I do? I have a problem: I can be out of tune at first, there are still times, but I am a fighter who will go all the way, who will work until the end. I didn’t lose consciousness, I was conscious.
Will you have a fight in September anyway?
– I would really like to fight him, we’ll see.
– Now you have a defeat before the fight with Maga…
– Him too. [Маги] too.
– Well, he quarreled with Mineev there again …
– This is another test in my life – the main thing is not to lose heart. Again, I mean – in such battles a lot depends on the case. The fight has just started, it was in the first seconds, in Chelyabinsk I had a similar fight. Once the referee stopped and I lost. Another time the judge didn’t stop me, they gave me the opportunity to come back, and I myself won by knockout (i.e. the fights against Bruno Silva and Viscardi Andrade – “TV Match”). Now it turned out how it turned out. It’s a bad sign that the referee didn’t come into the locker room to talk to me.
“Do you want to go deal with the judge?”
Why, what will it change? I can only be mad at myself for missing a long fighter. I should have been more careful, not so reckless.
The fight had just started, I didn’t have time to make many mistakes, I made one, I couldn’t correct it. I’d be ready to fix it right away, but what can be done about it?
Maybe the ref thought I was a rookie, they were going to kill me, bury me now. There are some misses, but what do you want when you’re fighting a healthy fighter you haven’t really trained for but prepared for another.
My wife came up to me and said, “What kind of referee, what did he stop like that?” She also understands in battles. And I don’t know what to tell him. That’s how it happened.
– What did you want to do when you missed the shot?
– I did not prepare for the left-hander, I was hit in the left knee. He is long, he has a knee like the leg of many. I should have been more careful, but I thought nothing terrible would happen. What to argue now? I will not give up.
– Are you going to try to make a revenge with Ilic in your tournament?
– It’s hard to say. At such times, fighters usually break the price. Run after him now. I had a situation with [Бруно Силвой], we were ready to give money, and that’s it. But the price has skyrocketed. It’ll be fine – we’ll fight him, no – I see no reason to run after him.
– Do you think there are many people who are happy now?
– Sure. You can look among yourselves, among the journalists. Who rejoices – he is not here. It’s clear that I pissed off the public, I pissed people off, that’s what worries me the most, not for me, I don’t care. I worry about our common, a lot of people came, and I collapsed like that. It’s tough, but what can I say… I had a similar situation in the fight with Cooper, where I also fell. And it was hard to get up, I leaned on the net, but I survived, the referee gave me this opportunity. And then the ref thought they were going to bury me now. Unfortunately, I have a new KO in the “defeats” column. I have a difficult life. Haters rejoice, and here we go.
Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
