“15 years ago I was told to stop playing sports.” Ismailov – about Makhachev’s fight and “hello” in Krasnoyarsk

In 10 minutes of our interview, Ismailov is approached three times. First, funny people ask for a photo. “Phone ready? So come sharply: tap-tap and they did it, ”the most cheerful MMA fighter in Russia clarifies. Then a girl comes – due to the peculiarities of her clothes and religion, Muhammad asks to organize the frame in a special way. Finally Magu is attacked by a child. “Yes, I am a bald predator, and you? Not! Well, let’s take a car, now we will solve the problem”, the kid begins to find apologies, everyone within five meters laughs.

It all happens one hour before the fight between Alexander Ilyich and Alexander Shlemenko and three months before the fight between Ismailov and Shlemenko. Nobody knows yet that in an hour Shlemenko will be knocked out in 22 seconds and Ismailov will grab his head, sitting in the front row (spoiler – nothing threatens the Shlemenko vs. Ismailov fight).

– In 2017, you said that Shlemenko could not be called up for a fight, he could only be politely offered a fight. How did you start talking about the fight?

So I politely offered. You know, he kind of approached Shlemenko and said-aa-al, “What if, Sasha, what if…” He said, “So far, no one seems interested.” And I say, “But what if 300 thousand dollars for each.” And he said, “Yeah, that would be cool.” And me: “I think so too.” And now we’ve come to such a day that they’re each giving us $300,000 for our showdown. The main thing, as I said, it will be the main fight of respect, and therefore it will take place regardless of who wins. I know that Sasha often says in an interview: “Magomed can only be friends with those he beats. And we have to see how he will behave if he loses. But we can only know if this is happening. Now let’s see how the fight goes and see what happens.

– You told me that you would train under Shlemenko with Shara Bullet and Magomed Ankalaev. And why with them they are not very suitable for styling?

“I didn’t say they were my main sparring partners. They can work well with lefties. But there are other guys stylistically very similar to Shlemenko both in height and fighting style. So there will be someone to work with.

– And who will be the main sparring partners, if by last name?

I won’t tell you by last name.

– Are you sincerely going to encourage Shlemenko today?

– I will sincerely encourage him and I must encourage him. But today I saw his opponent, and he says he subscribes to me, says I’m a cool man, back and forth. And in general such a positive guy. It’s good for me that Shlemenko wins, and I want Shlemenko to win. But at the same time, I would like the confrontation to end as if there were no losers. As you watch and think they are both winners for you.

– Since 2015 you have not won by trickery, in principle, in your career you have earned the least in this way. Although you told us that you won your first street fights by submission. How often do you do them in training?

– I often do. By the way, we will change this moment, there will be tips. Everyone should use it, it’s MMA. In the room, I often use towers. And then for some reason I don’t use it and criticize myself for it.

“And who’s working on your grappling?”

“There are a lot of people like that. Here are Arsen Shapiev, Bilyal and Marat Gafurov. There are a lot of people helping me with that.

– After any knee surgery, it is recommended to reduce the load on the joint. What do doctors tell you after multiple surgeries when they see your MRI?

– So they told me 15 years ago that you can’t play sports, ha ha ha. They have already said several times that it was impossible, that it was time to end it. Therefore, I was looking for a person who would say, “Yes, everything is fine, don’t worry.” And immediately I say about such a doctor: “Yes, that’s it, here he is.” I can’t say five times, but I found someone who said “you can”.

There is this loophole – to continue to be an athlete, but doctors more often than not make up their minds and say, they say, that’s it, you’ve made it. But everything is the will of the Almighty, and I always found a person who said, “Yes, here is a picture, everything is fine, you can move.”

– In the YouTube videos, I called you Muhammad, because you introduced yourself that way before the interview and your brother says the same thing. But people in the comments write that this is wrong. Let’s close the question.

When people ask my name, I introduce myself as Muhammad. But I don’t cut people who say Maga, Isma or Magomed. Because my page says maga_isma. I am not cutting anyone, because the difficult situation is now cut for the moment. But I’m happy when they say Muhammad. That’s what I like.

— You often say hello to Krasnoyarsk in old interviews. And to whom?

“Constant Artamonov!” Well, let’s say salaam to him then. Kostya, I love you very much, he is my predatory friend, my colleague, my brother. We have many stories of the merry army. It takes a long time to tell them, but the main thing is that we had a great time there, became close and keep in touch to this day.

– Today you supported Yasubi Enomoto, who fought with Boris Medvedev. How did your friendship with him start?

– We have warm relations with Yasubi. We have been good friends since my first trip to Thailand. Maybe somewhere we didn’t always understand each other, but we were very friendly, we always communicated in sign language. I have now improved my English a little, I will progress in this so that we can speak calmly with him. But it all started with sign language, and we loved it. We knew how to understand each other without really understanding each other. Now it is easier to communicate.

Everyone in Russia says that Charles Oliveira will not oppose Islam Makhachev. Can you say anything else? Why is Oliveira dangerous?

– The fact that Islam did not yet have Charles Oliveira among its opponents, there were others. Oliveira fights well and his kicking technique is good. He’s a dangerous fighter, and let’s not relax – he’s a very dangerous opponent for Islam. I will be sick and worried, but, if you want to objectively, I cannot say that Islam is superior to Oliveira in everything. I’m just going to worry because Oliveira is very competitive for him. He has no such fashion, so as not to lose. It started with losses and now it has come to victories.

He is a very dangerous guy mentally and physically. Islam must lead this confrontation unequivocally, without giving it a single escape. If there is a loophole, he will crawl through.