UFC’s Biggest Villain. Kolesnik’s Return to Rizin. Shara Bullet vs. Masvidal

Friends, hello everyone! You are watching a weekly video discussion of the main news in the world of MMA on the portal mma-tv.com. My name is Julia Mirei, my correspondent is Artem Novopavlovsky, and we are joined by sports journalist and commentator Alexey Volodin. Hello, men!

Hello everyone, and a very warm welcome to you all!

Greetings to all! Well, I guess I'll start with the first news item that I'd like to discuss today. Today we are discussing Viktor Kolesnik's highly anticipated fight, who will compete on the 7th of March under the Rizin banner against the undefeated Japanese fighter Kazuki Aimoto. I know that Alexey interviewed Viktor recently, so my first question for you is: could you tell us what sort of individual Viktor Kolesnik is? And the second question, Alexey, is: what kind of Kolesnik do you expect to see in the fight against Aimoto?

Well, first of all, I believe in a certain, not exactly a reset, because I don't think the fight with Radzhabali Shaidullaev was some kind of disaster. Radzhabali is simply on a fundamentally different level. This is not a Rizin-level fighter, this is a UFC-level fighter. In fact, to me, he is easily a solid top 5 fighter in the UFC right now. And I truly think that Radzhabali Shaidullaev simply doesn't belong in Rizin at this moment in time. He should have moved on a long time ago. Viktor Kolesnik is a person who has always stood out for his excellent striking technique, a fan of the Central Sports Club of the Army, and is always cheerful. He's just such a positive person. And, you know, Viktor has always reminded me of those classic Soviet cartoons about hockey players—those brave, spirited, and tough guys. That's pretty much exactly what Viktor is like, whenever he comes out to play. he's always in high spirits, you can't get into his head, you can't break him mentally. Especially if you have an experienced coach like Oleg Perevertunov, then I think there's just absolutely no chance of failure. So Viktor Kolesnik is a consistently reliable person who never performs below a certain high level. And once again, I wouldn't call the fight with Radzhabali a disaster.

You said he reminds you of those brave hockey players. Which ones exactly? There were good boys and bad ones there, the darker ones, you know. Which one is he?

No, he's definitely a good one. Even though he supports CSKA and I support Spartak, he's still a good guy.

Do you think Viktor has reset himself during the six months he's been resting and recovering after his defeat? Why do you think so? And what do you think, what conclusions do you suppose he drew after his previous fight?

"Honestly speaking, I don't think there were any particular conclusions he needed to draw after that defeat. Because he actually completely reset himself in Rizin. He revealed himself to the world as a fighter that nobody knew before, and now they do. And in Rizin, they love him. They love him in Japan. He fit right in. For the Japanese fans attend these fights as if they're going to the theater, where they sit quietly and applaud. For them, it's an event that's partly social, sporting, cultural, and even spiritual, I suppose. And the attitude toward the philosophy of martial arts is taken very seriously in Japanese society. So Viktor embodies a specific mental code for the Japanese audience, and he clearly belongs there. A complete reset, similar to what happened after Rajabali, is unlikely to happen here. Here, they are instead matching him with an undefeated fighter, and this guy is preparing to make his debut in RIZIN after coming over from the Deep promotion. Here, we need to dive a little into the history of major Japanese promotions. RIZIN is the main showcase

Alexey, you closely follow everything that is happening in RIZIN. How exactly has the balance of power changed after Viktor's recent defeat? And how many more fights and what specific kind of path do you think he still has to go through before he can finally contend for the belt a second time?

Well, to be honest, as long as Rajabali Shaidullaev is the champion, Viktor Kolesnik doesn’t need to fight for the belt. At the moment, I just don’t see a chance. Simply put, Rajabali is on another level, I’ll say it again. And as long as he doesn’t leave RIZIN, I think fighting for the title is pointless for now. All the more so because there’s a whole untapped field in RIZIN, specifically in the sixty six kilogram division, since it features guys like Kleber Koike Erbst and Vugar Karamov. There’s also an excellent fighter, Karshyga Dautbek, who apparently wants to drop down to sixty one, but I’d love to see a fight at sixty six between him and Viktor. There’s Mikuru Asakura as well. So, when we take a look at Viktor Kolesnik , the RIZIN matchmakers really— they’ve got a full hand of trump cards to choose from, as much as they want. Right now, they’ve picked a young prospect, but it’s kind of a test after his loss—like, here you go, prove yourself, and then you’ll get another big fight. That’s probably how it is.

Kazuki Aimoto—just how talented is he really? What kind of hidden powers does he possess? How could he possibly surprise Viktor?

He could surprise Viktor by charging forward in the opening minutes. He has good striking technique. His clinch is pretty decent, too. His kicks are decent enough, but nothing particularly outstanding or remarkable. So, in terms of their anthropometric measurements, there won’t be any significant or substantial difference here either. Their height is about the same, give or take a couple of centimeters. Their reach is similar as well. Hand speed at mid-range distance. That’s what will matter. Most likely, Viktor will first try to find his distance. And then he’ll quickly realize that if he’s better in this aspect, usually Viktor doesn’t even need a plan B—he can calmly break him down in the stand-up. But if it becomes necessary, a takedown is also a viable option.

If we’re talking about a conservative and safe prediction, I understand that the most dependable and reliable pick is Viktor to win, most likely winning by a unanimous decision. And if we’re talking about a risky prediction, what would your prediction be here, Alexey?

A risky prediction would be that the younger fighter burns out and simply cannot handle the pressure, and it all ends quickly in the first round with a victory for Viktor. Maybe as a result of body shots. Viktor is really good at working the body with his kicks. I actually think that is a really effective and solid key to beating a guy like this.

On the other hand, I think the last fight showed that if you can take Viktor down early, when he’s just getting started—or rather, before he’s really picked up steam—then there’s every chance. Maybe, just like the previous opponent he faced, Kazuki will aim to target those very first 30 seconds of the match.

The thing is, to do that, you really need to have the incredible power of Rajabali Shaidullaev. I am absolutely certain that Kazuki is just not at that level yet. In fact, he is not even remotely close to reaching that level of skill. Secondly, there was also this aura of invincibility around Shaidullaev, and it’s very different from Kazuki’s aura of invincibility. It’s a completely different level of opposition. And once again, Rajabali secured victory by a technical knockout. Yes, he landed a shot, then turned on the machine gun at full power, the referee stopped it, and right away Viktor had questions about the stoppage. Well, most likely, Rajabali would have finished it, but Viktor wasn’t completely knocked out, he wasn’t shut off. To be honest, I really don’t think Kazuki has that specific kind of heavy punching power, or that explosive kind of dynamite in his fists.

I would like to suggest we discuss Arman Tsarukyan’s fight at the tournament…

It is a Raf, not vanilla, not lavender, just a perfect Raf.

During the high-stakes 'Not Vanilla Raf' tournament, while competing against Giorgio Pullas, Tsarukyan first secured a victory over his challenger, and then found himself embroiled in a heated physical altercation. What followed was an escalation that quickly transformed into a massive brawl involving Tsarukyan’s entire team and the opponent’s team. Basically, everyone ended up fighting, and then the organizers were even accused of staging the whole thing. What is Tsarukyan doing now? In my opinion, he’s attracting attention to himself however and with whatever means he can. A number of different people have expressed the opinion that this will now prevent him from ever actually reaching the championship belt, but in my view, he’s doing absolutely everything within his power to keep people talking about him and to get that UFC title fight. In your personal opinion, will this help him now or, on the contrary, serve to push him even further away from a title fight?

For me, the story here is a little different. Arman needs to fight someone, and he has two options, with one of them not requiring any hype—like, for example, a theoretical rematch with Gamrot, because that was a great fight, and it’s always there as a sporting option he can keep in reserve. But Arman Tsarukyan is actually moving in a completely different direction. I'm not sure if most fans realize this yet, but to me, it seems way too obvious. Now there's going to be a fight between Max Holloway and Oliveira for the 'BMF' belt. Holloway will be defending the title of the UFC's biggest badass, I think, for the second time already. And right now, Arman Tsarukyan is pursuing a championship title fight, but it's not the main title fight this month—instead, he is targeting the BMF belt. And he's doing everything for that. Suppose Holloway manages to defeat Charles. Then you would have a showdown: Holloway versus Tsarukyan for the BMF belt. That's a great story that could be sold really well. And this is a fight where Tsarukyan can be tested once again. And if he wins this crucial match, he will be able to clearly demonstrate to everyone that he is truly ready to fight for the full world title.

Listen, I just heard a very interesting thought from Alexey... If we take a close look at Arman's story, let's say, even the BMF title—after all, that's the ultimate 'bad boy' title, I thought that when he fought in his last bout against Pullas, it wasn't just his country that was on display for the world to see, but something much deeper than that. Because there was that incident with Dan Hooker, and maybe that's why he ended up having major problems with the UFC in general. Now he's fighting another opponent from a different organization, but again he's showing a clear lack of discipline, so to speak. And I thought, maybe the organization itself... And the UFC management would probably look at this with some caution. But it's a truly fascinating story, if you really take the time to look at it— he's a total badass, in the best possible way, and honestly, who else but him should be fighting for the BMF title? What happens if such a high-profile incident occurs? Maybe an injury. Right now, Pulla has that opportunity, but it could have easily been Arman Tsarukyan once more. And who will be held responsible if an athlete gets injured in another organization while they have an active contract with the UFC and are scheduled to compete? Who will be punished, how will they be punished, and maybe by whom will they be punished?

Here, the fighters punish themselves, because the UFC already gives fighters a lot of leeway by allowing them to compete under grappling and jiu-jitsu rules. But not under the rules of combo-jiu-jitsu, without strikes, again. And here the UFC is making a generous gesture, like, as long as you don't have fights scheduled, you can earn a bit through grappling. Or earn a lot, it doesn't matter. So here, the fighters are to blame themselves—if they get injured and, because of that injury sustained during grappling, have to pull out of a UFC fight, then it's 100% the responsibility of the fighter and their coaching staff. But in UFC contracts, you do have the option to withdraw from fights. I am not exactly sure how it has been modified or updated now, but as far as I remember, you can have one or two withdrawals for a few specific reasons. And if you get injured while preparing for a fight, that will not be counted toward this option. But if you get an injury that can be proven to have happened during the tournament, then that's your responsibility. I think that every single case here is considered on an individual basis. So yes, in this case, the UFC fighter is responsible for everything.

"A new announcement about Shara Bullet's fight. He will compete in the Hype tournament against UFC legend Masvidal. Well, recently he fought Tsarukyan. Well, ""fought"" is a strong word. They were evenly matched. Now he'll try his hand against Masvidal. It will be super interesting to see how this fight goes. So, what are your predictions for this one, guys?"

My first prediction is that the fight will not happen. It's the Hype tournament, after all. I am honestly not sure that anything related to Hype FC really happens at all. Absolutely 100% of the statements and hype on various social media platforms and across the entire internet, and only about 10% of it actually becomes reality. If for some reason, by chance, everything comes together and the tournament does indeed end up taking place—which I fundamentally don't believe will happen—but if it does, then the highly anticipated matchup between the striker Shara Bullet, Furthermore, it is more likely that the versatile all-rounder Masvidal will engage in what can be described as a significant clash between the Latin American power of his Cuban origin and the legendary boldness of Dagestan. In this upcoming matchup, I would truly like for everything here to be perfectly fair and square for both sides. None of this, like, 'let's not do heel hooks,' for example. Or 'let's not do this or that.' Everything should be honest, as they say. All that being said, of course, the athletic edge is on Shara Bullet's side—he's younger, healthier, and bigger—but the wrestling skills are very interesting here, because Jorge is a very unconventional and unpredictable guy. This is exactly the case where Shara shouldn't fall for Masvidal's provocations. But I think the odds are 60 to 40 in favor of Shara.

Alexey, you express yourself so beautifully. I would even call you a 'martial arts sommelier.'

"You even made me want to say 'wow' after hearing that moving speech. It was truly beautiful. Recently, Shara gave a long interview, and during that conversation, he said, 'I would like people to speak poorly about my wrestling skills

"It would be interesting, and on top of that, again, where and with whom Shara Bullet will be preparing. Because if we take Gor Azizyan's gym, there are a lot of guys there, primarily strikers. Again, Bogdan Guskov fights really well, and Kostya Erokhin can give a really tough workout there, mostly in stand-up. But when it comes to wrestling, well, probably that's Arymarcel Santos, probably Valter Walker, probably those are the guys who can give some advice here. But I don't think Shara Bullet will be hunting for a heel hook. With Jorge Masvidal, I don't really believe in that kind of twisting submission

Well, my dear friends, that brings us to the end of our weekly video discussion for today. Please keep watching MMA, and we will definitely be right here to keep discussing it with you. Thank you so much for spending this morning with us. Goodbye, everyone!