MMA Series-94 recap, 2-on-2 fight, and what’s next for Barkhatov / UFC Freedom 250 predictions

Greetings to everyone. This is the weekly discussion on the mma-tv.com portal. I'm Artem Novopavlovsky. The MMA Series 94 tournament has just wrapped up. And today, joining me here are some of the very main participants and, I would certainly say, the key creators of this entire tournament. They are the featured headliner and now the impressive double champion Nikita Barkhatov, as well as the official league director and the primary matchmaker Fedor Ryzhov. Welcome, guys.

Hello everyone!

I'm wearing a headpiece that was given to me by the participant of the first fight, Georgiy 'El Mexicano' Komarov. I'll start this way, just to immediately show how truly atmospheric the whole experience was for us. Well, and I'll take it off right away then. Hola, Fedor, yes, I can add a few more details to that.

Yes, that is correct, hello there.

And of course, I would really like to take a moment to discuss the important current topics and key issues that have come up following the conclusion of the tournament. And first of all, specifically, it is... The post that Dmitry Mikhailidi left on social media, where he stated that he disagreed with the decision, claimed that he won the first, second, and third rounds, agreed that he lost the fourth, and said the fifth was questionable, as Fedor noted. He mentioned Nikita and said that now their score is one to one and he is ready for a rematch. And he would like to have it. I would first like to hear from Nikita about how he personally saw this fight, how he felt about each of the rounds, and exactly which way he would have scored them himself. And then, I want to hear Fedor's own comments on this entire situation and on this specific topic.

I truly believe in my heart and am fully confident, yes, that I without a doubt won this fight. I am certain that I took at least four of the rounds. Specifically, those are the first, the third, the fourth, and the fifth rounds. However, in the second round, I feel that I unfortunately lost the momentum during the very last minute of that second round. Because of that, the second round was given to Dima. But other than that, I believe I decisively won this fight.

So, it turned out to be 4 to 1 and 3 to 2. One of the official judges scored the match 3 to 2, effectively handing over another round. The rest scored it 4 to 1. As for me... Nikita, I've always mentioned to you, you need to express yourself more expansively, powerfully, and quickly, but alright. Since right now you are still very much in the process of learning this, I will go ahead and take the initiative and lead the way for us. Look, Dmitry... Honestly, I think it is truly wonderful that Dmitry took the time to write that down somewhere, because it allows everyone to clearly see how much he deeply cares about everything that happened, and that is already a very nice thing to witness. But of course, I can respond in several different ways, for example, like this. One to one, where was that for them? There was one fight somewhere, and one fight here with us. But, accordingly, if they want to have a third fight, especially with the judges they're dissatisfied with, who see things differently, and there's something else going on, then maybe it should be held in a third location, I guess. Well, if that's the case, then so be it. But in general, regarding the points that Dmitry just brought up, it really seems to me that Andrey Vasilenko told me almost the exact same thing right after his intense fight with Mikhaillidi, back when they fought each other in December of last year. To be perfectly honest with you, I don't recall the specific date or even when our very last tournament actually took place. Vasilenko was convinced that he was robbed by the judges. He wasn't really robbed, but, in short, something wasn't given to him somewhere along the way. And he relied on the same statistics and various other factors. I would like to emphasize for the millionth time about statistics. Guys, these statistics reflect the total number of strikes. The judges on the panel give scores and marks for significant strikes landed, as well as for various other important key moments that take place throughout the entire fight. In general, judges don't look at these statistics. They look at what they actually see. This kind of statistics is a great thing. As I said, according to these statistics, basically, Mikhalidi probably shouldn't have fought Barkhatov at all back then, and Vasilenko should have been in his place. Well, something like that. Or in general, the champion at seventy kilograms should have been Andrey Vasilenko, if we go by the opinions of the neighbors in the apartment, who, of course, think their neighbor won, and other such people. The judges made their decision, that's how it is, there's really nothing much to discuss. In this fight, there's really nothing to discuss at all, in my opinion. Everything was just too obvious. And to see... In order to see any other result, well, to be honest, you would really have to try exceptionally hard.

Mentally, it was absolutely one of the most challenging experiences. Not one of, but actually the most difficult fight of my career. It was extremely difficult and challenging to get mentally prepared for it because Dima and I have always had a very good and close relationship. And I honestly still feel the same way about him now. I deeply respect him as a person and as a professional athlete. I mean, he has really come a long way throughout his career. And mentally, it was very hard to get ready. To go out there, get really fired up, you know, and go out to completely destroy, so to speak, just like I used to do before. So that is exactly why this was the toughest and most challenging fight of my entire career.

We never know what will happen in our lives. Would you yourself be ready, in general, to give Dima a rematch? Do you think he deserves it? Or maybe he needs to beat someone else first, and then we'll see?

Generally speaking, a rematch is always possible, but it's also up to my team to decide. A rematch is always possible. I've never turned down a challenge, never refused a fight in my entire career. In this particular situation, the final decision is also entirely up to my team. Looking at the big picture regarding this fight, I'll say this clearly: I absolutely won this fight. I truly believe in my heart that I won this fight. Yes, it is possible that Dima thinks he somehow outstruck me at some point during the rounds, but in reality, that simply didn't happen at all. I rewatched the fight and saw that crazy statistic where Dima supposedly outstruck me two to one. And I think, how is that even possible?

You have to look at a lot of different factors. Damage, punching power, and other aspects. The only thing I'm glad about is that Mikhaillidi, for the first time in his life, had a fight that was enjoyable to watch. Barkhatov, for the first time in a very long while, had a fight that's truly enjoyable to watch—I mean, a fight you can watch over and over again. And in the end, it turned out to be a high-level fight between two top MMA athletes. It is really quite wonderful that you both were always there for each other... well, how should I even begin to put it into words... Thanks to the fact that lately you both... Well, Mikhaillidi, lately you've been leaning towards wrestling, and at the same time, you were good at avoiding wrestling. Because of that, the fight turned out exactly as I had hoped. To be completely honest, I had very significant doubts that it would ever work out this way. But in the end, it turned out just the way everyone likes it—when two people who are drawn to wrestling end up trading blows on their feet. And they were trading blows really well, with fast punches and everything. There were complex combinations, quick sidesteps, punches while moving, punches while slipping, sharp hooks, long straight punches, heavy overhands, and powerful uppercuts—literally everything you could imagine. It was really an awesome sight to witness.

Listen, but the fight was very close and very entertaining. There were a lot of back-and-forth moments, I would say. And when the stats showed that Mikhalidi was outstriking two to one, which Dima also wrote about on social media, Then in the fourth round, Nikita had some great moments where the stats swung heavily in his favor. So, I think, if I'm being honest, in terms of the overall impression... From my personal perspective, as someone sitting right there in the front row watching the event, it really seemed like one of the athletes was visibly struggling out there, and that person was Mikhalidi. He couldn't manage to wrestle or put pressure on, and it was Nikita who was applying more pressure. I think everything was pretty fair here, and I also agree with the judges. A quick question for Nikita. Nikita, in which weight class do you actually feel more comfortable fighting? And do you plan to defend both of those belts, or will you vacate one and choose to stay in the lightweight division?

Of course, I am a featherweight fighter, competing at 66 kilograms. But at the present moment, I can't say anything specific about my future plans, because we haven't had the chance to sit down and discuss it with the rest of the team yet. How long has it been? It's been two days since that big fight. For now, I'm just recovering my strength and relaxing, so to speak. I haven't even had any thoughts about the future yet. And there have not been any discussions or any negotiations taking place. We'll just have to wait and see what happens next.

Well, then moving on, I'd like to hear from Fedor about the challenge of defending two different belts. There's a current trend in many organizations to avoid letting one person hold two belts, so as not to hold up the divisions. What is your professional opinion on this as a matchmaker?

If we had the same number of tournaments that we used to have in the past, then of course we could talk about something. Considering that we've just held our first tournament in two thousand and twenty-six, basically, within the organization there's a lot of room for growth. ...different options. There's an old joke about this. In short, there are a lot of options, but not enough geese. I won't go into a long story, but the point is, there are no problems at all. There will be upcoming tournaments, and we'll see exactly which category of opponents and challengers will compete. And in the seventy kilogram division, there’s a whole bunch of talented people who are absolutely ready to fight for the title. Everyone there is just ready to go. I don’t know, just on Sunday alone I heard about twenty possible fight matchups being discussed. Everyone is fully prepared to fight Palchikov. Right now, in every weight class, we have Vladislav Palchikov, and the whole Druzhina, Derzhava, and I don’t even know who else, are all standing ready to fight him. And everyone else too. With Bakhan, probably not as many people in the 66 kilogram division would want to fight. If... If we come to an agreement about seventy, if, for example, no one else gets involved in these discussions, then we’ll talk about it. It’s just that right now the roster is so small that there’s not much point in talking about things like Telling someone to leave this division and go there, or the other way around, isn’t really necessary. In this case, having a champion in two weight classes actually sounds cooler.

More and more frequently these days, MMA or bare-knuckle fighting organizations are holding major unification and championship bouts. What do you think about this trend? Now there’s a double champion in the MMA Series. Would that be interesting for the league?

No, I don't know who is organizing that event. I have a completely different set of plans regarding joint tournaments. And in the fights... The people I've talked to about joint tournaments support my idea. I am not planning on sharing that information right now. The main point I want to make is that champions should remain champions in their own leagues, and any potential fights or matchups that are held... So that there are no questionable moments, like who judged the fight... Because between leagues, everything will be much more serious. Here, within the leagues... We have the same judges every time. They don’t change. If you think that last time they showed you some favoritism, and today they were working directly against you, then it’s all a bit peculiar and confusing. Or rather, that’s not quite right. Last time, everything was done in a completely fair and transparent manner for you, even though there may be those who hold a different perspective on the matter. You get the general idea, right, that... If we decide to do something with other leagues, then the system implemented there will be structured in a significantly different way. It will, of course, be more interesting and more pleasant for... and more comfortable for all the leagues. So no one will be nervous about their champions being called into question.

So Nikit, how do you personally envision your own situation developing as we move forward? I understand it's only been two days, but what else would you like to achieve as a fighter? I mean, you've become a champion, now you've made a historic achievement, you've become a double champion. What's next? Maybe you already have some initial thoughts on this matter?

Artem, honestly, I don't have any thoughts about that right now. But it's... Fedor was right when he said that there aren't that many tournaments being held at the moment. And I think there aren't any clear contenders right now, neither in sixty six nor in seventy. There just aren't any obvious title contenders at the moment. I don't even know about my future fights. Where they'll be, who I'll face, or when they'll happen. But I am always ready to fight. And I always want to have as many fights as possible. Right now, I just haven't had enough time to fully recover from this last fight. It's only been two days. I really need to take some time to recover and rest up. I haven't set any specific new goals for myself just yet. Let's just say, I usually set clear goals and then work hard to achieve them. My very first major goal was to win the sixty six belt, and I managed to do it. I got the 70 belt as well. I'm a double champion. And for now, I don't have any further goals. There's just one goal. To keep fighting.

By the way, about the belt. I see there's one belt hanging right there behind you, but where exactly is the second one located?

The second one is with my coach.

Ah, that's simple enough. Well, that's quite noble of you. Alright, let's move on to the other fights from the MMA Series 94 tournament. I suggest we take a moment to discuss which of these specific moments you liked the most, and who really stood out to you. Fedor, I'd love to hear your thoughts first, so let's start with you.

Kurochkin's fight, yes. Well, looking at the two-on-two fight, obviously, that's a real hit-seeker. There's really nothing more to say about it because it was so intense. It turned out to be very cool and deeply emotional for everyone. But I absolutely have to say, Savely Kurochkin has made tremendous progress in his performance. And it's clear that I hope that now we'll have... On average, you see, there was always a bit of a complicated situation. It would be great if three more people show up, and we could have sort of semifinals, and then a kind of title fight. Actually, that's not quite right. The title fight wouldn't be just a kind of fight, but the semifinals would be. And in December, the highly anticipated title fight. Because if Kurochkin wins this bout, it will be a fair outcome. Because he has improved dramatically compared to how he performed in our league. What he accomplished during this time, and he managed to get past a very strong, serious gatekeeper. Not all the fights turned out the way I expected. Well, for example, in the case of Badao and Sengeyma, yes, well, Francimar is a seasoned, experienced wolf, so to speak, an old wolf, right, and of course he says... If it had been a title fight, I would have fought differently. Here, with the very minimum effort, he tried to secure himself the win. By the way, it was an incredibly slippery fight, a remarkably close one. This was actually a much closer and more competitive fight than the Mikhailidi versus Barkhatov bout, by the way. Because over there, it was completely unclear what was going on, and Sergey, it was unclear what he was doing, like, well, it was obvious—if you arrived at the very last moment, then basically, what’s the goal? Just not to fall down, so to speak. Well, great, you didn’t fall—that’s what we can congratulate you on. And you didn’t drop anyone, but you also didn’t really do much there either. So, basically, that’s why he lost here. Well, Sergey, we’re also waiting for you to join us for a full training camp. I hope, I hope we’ll see you soon. Arsen Nersesyan also performed well at 70 kilograms. He did well at 77 kilograms too. Thanks to his experience—he’s an experienced fighter as well. He beat Gleb Mikhalev thanks to his experience. What else can I say? Gorshkov, the formidable guy who fought in the second match, is a remarkably interesting fighter. But he injured his arm very badly. I think he even broke it during the fight. So I really don't know when he'll be able to return to competition again either. Although, judging by his potential, he’s definitely a very impressive athlete. Well, we are certainly going to wait and see what happens next with these talented fighters. I think we will definitely see most of these highly anticipated fights during the upcoming series of major tournaments, which will be officially announced to the public very shortly.

Nikit, which of these fights were your favorites?

If you actually even managed to sit through and watch any of them... He probably didn’t watch, or did he?

I didn’t watch the whole tournament at all. Before my own fight, I hadn’t seen a single match.

The fighting stopped then. After your fight, there were no more matches, Nikit.

I agree. I watched the recordings, I saw the 2 on 2 fight. By the way, I really liked it and it was pretty cool. There was some real competition. And it was truly impressive how the guys managed to finish off their opponents at the exact same time. It was quite a fascinating sight to witness.

You can’t stage something like that. Yeah.

It was a cool experience, and it was fascinating to watch how one teammate tried to help the other escape from a tight chokehold. That moment was truly captivating to see. I also watched Mikhalyov’s fight in its entirety, where he unfortunately got caught in a guillotine choke that ended the match. I saw Saveliy Kurochkin, that was at the end of the fight, I was actually already standing by the entrance. It was truly an epic and incredibly interesting match to witness; of course, he really managed to beat his opponent quite convincingly. And judging by the detailed statistics of Saveliy’s opponent, I saw very clearly that he wasn’t just some random pushover; he was actually a very skilled and formidable fighter, which made the whole thing much more interesting to watch. And, accordingly, I found myself rewatching the footage of my own fight several times over. I honestly liked it quite a lot too, as it was a great performance.

A question for Fedor. How did the idea for a 2 on 2 fight first come about 1 year ago? And why has no one else done it, but MMA Series decided to go for it?

Recently, someone sent me... I even quoted this a lot to Vitalik. In Vitaliy's interview on 'Fighter's Movement,' I even quoted this phrase. Someone sent it to me recently. And there was this one person, who often likes to say things about us, who said the phrase 'an original league.' I actually said that you could disregard everything else he said and just keep the phrase 'original.' Because given the circumstances we find ourselves in, it is truly only through originality that we can allow ourselves to do something that... Well, of course, such fights are always needed and important, but it's precisely that sense of originality that captures the imagination and draws attention. You saw the incredible number of views and reposts that particular fight got, right? Last year, it was incredibly challenging and difficult; it was, as you can imagine, very hard for him to get in, and I was waiting for him back then. And at that time, we had to set up a match exactly like that—Brazil versus Kyrgyzstan—because at that specific moment... there was a significant amount of strategic leverage being utilized on both sides, and then they finally agreed, two pairs of competitors reached a deal. And at first, it was all like, 'Why do this? This is something strange, this is this, this is that.' Yeah, you know, like people usually react. I’ll say it again, Artem, it was just like when I built the cage back in 2012 for the project—same thing: 'A cage? How are you going to film in there?' Oh, what is this? And then, in the end, everyone is fighting in the cage. You see, six months later. It's the same thing here, really. You just have to try, and if you don't try, you'll never know. And now we see that the second result turned out to be significantly better than the first, because now there's some kind of strategy involved. Nikita caught that moment perfectly, and I really liked it too, that... There, the guy seemed to be trying to choke someone, then they realize he's the one being choked, and he tried to get in there. Absolutely right. They both fell together in the same spot. But that is absolutely impossible; you simply cannot script something like that in any realistic scenario. You really can't script something quite like what we just witnessed happening here. And consider this: when both of these fights ended within just two seconds of each other, absolutely no one had the chance to interfere. No one at all managed to step in or interfere as a third party during the chaos. Well, actually, the third guy did interfere a little, but only made things worse for himself. He ended up losing his position. So, these are the kinds of nuances that are already becoming... It turns out, some kind of tactics are starting to appear now. So, you already have to watch... Not just for something, but to start thinking tactically, in terms of this sort of street-style format, so to speak.

There was a moment when both pairs lined up right next to each other, and it seems to me that it could have been a tactical move to use that moment to have them perform an unexpected switch.

Wait, Artem, just one... I also think that in the first 15 seconds, you could just take, especially those who are shorter, guys, just suddenly swing that kind of slap to the side, so to speak, and maybe you'll even knock someone down. I actually thought about that exact same thing too, and I really think you have to be incredibly attentive and cautious when you find yourself in these types of situations. I think you probably need to scatter your resources or your focus, well, it is something that requires a lot of careful planning. If it's a one-on-one plan, you really have to try to spread out across the cage right away, so that this kind of situation doesn't happen. I actually thought about that point as well, that the tactics should include every single one of these different things, because here, I don't know, I really had that thought in my head too, and that moment suddenly popped into my head as well. See how long we've been talking already? How long have we been discussing this? 2:20, and we've already been discussing, I don't know, more than 2:20, I think, we've been talking about this fight, which didn't last that long.

Sergey Dyakonov wouldn't mind fighting two-on-two. He said this in an interview with Viktoria Itsehovskaya. Could such a monumental clash of these legendary titans happen in this kind of format?

What do you think? A heavyweight battle two-on-two, that would be interesting. I think if you could find two more strikers for a two-on-two... then it would be even more epic, and honestly, it would be so much fun to watch. That would be a really cool thing to see. Especially if Dyakonov took part—such high-level fighters, it would be awesome. Yeah, I'd watch that.

Dyakonov immediately calmed me down when he started bringing up this topic. He said to me, 'Seryozha, just try to imagine yourself left all alone against two aggressive people, and imagine the kind of incredibly heavy knockout you'll suffer when you take a punch from that second guy.' I mean, if we're talking about some really tough and dangerous stuff, let's not forget, this is starting to smell like some very serious business, in my honest opinion—potentially life-altering, serious injuries. Personally, I definitely won't be doing that. Because, just like bare-knuckle fights, these are things that can lead to a whole different level of consequences.

There's one more interesting point I'd like to clarify. Fedor, on a scale of one to ten, how would you rate the tournament... What do you think?

Look, if I'm being honest, I probably can't give it a simple rating like that, because I'm just too aware of all the tiny nuances—like, you know, knowing exactly what it could have been, what it might have been under different circumstances, or all the other little things that are hidden in there. I think you'll agree, Andryushko vs. Bodao—even if Bodao, for example, was in bad shape— It still would have been, of course, a fight on an entirely different level, and it's also quite unclear whether it would have been even more exciting or cooler. That's why it's hard to judge here. When I stop to reflect on everything that just happened, I can quite clearly see some personal nuances of my own in there. Probably, well, let's make it an eight, as something definitely felt a little bit off. Let's go ahead and settle on a score of eight out of ten.

Who do you see as the best fight of the tournament?

Well, Barkhatov versus Mikhaillidi, what else do we have?

Best performance of the tournament.

Saveliy Kurochkin.

Is this the greatest debut performance in the MMA Series?

That was Gudkov, the same man who fought 2 on 2.

On the same day as the MMA Series 94 tournament, Russian fighter Sergey Pavlovich fought against Tallison Teixeira and scored a knockout in 39 seconds. The dominance of Russian power has finally returned to the world stage. Nikita, please tell us, what kind of profound impression did Sergey’s spectacular victory make on you today, and what kind of bright and successful future do you perhaps see for this incredible fighter in the coming years?

Well, I saw the knockout myself, yes. It was beautiful. The future? Well, the future is quite unclear at the moment, because Volkov is also steadily moving up as a top contender. So, are we going to match Pavlovich with Volkov again? Looking at the current situation, it really seems to me that right now Volkov is the undisputed main contender for the title. But it actually turns out that Alex Pereira got in ahead of the heavyweight Alexander Volkov. Well, as I understand it, that's quite simply because of his massive international star power.

I think Alex Pereira influenced things significantly, not only because of his direct involvement in this race, but possibly also because he had a major impact specifically in Glover Teixeira's camp. They trained together extensively, and he gave him quite a few very hard shots to the head. I personally saw those intense sparring sessions, and they were really going at it hard. I think Teixeira shouldn't have gone up against... For him to go out so often right before a fight with our Russian knockout artist, who is known for being extremely tough. He is a fighter with an incredibly powerful punch.

To be completely honest with you, I don't really know what the future holds for Pavlovich at this point. I strongly believe the next top contender in the heavyweight division should be Volkov. And matching Pavlovich up with Volkov again—well, the UFC might be interested in that. To match them up and finally determine the main contender.

Very soon, there will be a tournament at the White House. A large-scale event. I would like to suggest that we formally respond to the Americans and begin to gather a group of potential participants for a grand tournament to be held right on Red Square. If we were to imagine for a moment that you were the specific person responsible for choosing the participants and deciding on the matchups, who exactly would you suggest for such a prestigious tournament? Would you prefer the Kremlin or the iconic Red Square for the venue?

That is quite interesting. Now, let's take a much closer look at the MMA Series.

I think we can freely talk here about various fighters from the MMA Series, and maybe, of course, bring in someone from other leagues as well. So, as I understand it, the main focus here will be more on Russian fighters. Well, what is your own personal opinion, and what specific choice would you make?

Of course, I personally would really enjoy the chance of fighting on Red Square. So I would definitely include it as a top priority on this list. I think there are a significant number of talented Russian fighters who are very interesting for people to follow right now. For example, Gleb Khabibullin used to fight here quite often. Additionally, Ilya Varvarsky also fought in the MMA Series in the past. It would be incredibly interesting to see them compete again. Alexander Grozin... It seems to me that there are many talented fighters who could be put in place. I think the card would sound truly great, and people would definitely come to watch it.

So, what do you think, the main event, the co-main event? I mean, who exactly should be there? Do you think you would actually put yourself back there again? And who would you ultimately choose?

Perhaps, in terms of my media presence, I haven't grown and developed enough yet to be in the main event on Red Square. Even now... If we're talking about legends, then it's probably Fedor Emelianenko or Alexander Shlemenko. That would be incredibly powerful. If we had a legendary figure like Fedor Emelianenko in the main event, for example, and Alexander Shlemenko in the co-main event, that combination would be truly massive. I believe it would attract an incredibly large and diverse audience of fans from everywhere. As for the potential opponents, I think it would be very interesting to bring in some highly experienced and seasoned foreign fighters who have already had a great, successful run in the world's most prestigious top leagues.

Now, I would love to hear your predictions for the main and co-main events of the card at the White House. Tell me, how do you think the fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane will go, or what about Ilia Topuria and Justin Gaethje?

In the fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane, I'm simply picking Alex Pereira because Ciryl Gane annoys me. So, that is basically the whole story. Because he injured Tom Aspinall, it is now widely believed that Aspinall is twisting arms. He didn't fight very well against Volkov the second time in their rematch and he most likely lost. So, I give the win to him. That's why I'm betting on Alex Pereira. Although, of course, Ciryl Gane is definitely craftier than Pereira. So, I'm not sure if Alex will be able to do much of anything in this fight. Even though, of course, he possesses much more frightening punching power. Maybe Gane will outplay him there. Now, as for the upcoming Topuria versus Gaethje fight, I honestly think this time around Gaethje simply won't be able to do anything effective, and I firmly believe Topuria will manage to get close once again and decisively knock him out.

Between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane—I honestly think that Pereira will come out on top. I believe the fight will definitely end before the final bell ever rings. They have a five-round fight, and I think it will end in either the second or third round. I'm leaning more toward the third round for Pereira to finish it. As for Topuria vs. Gaethje, I really respect Justin Gaethje as a fighter. I find it incredibly exciting to watch his fights. But here, I honestly think... that Topuria will ultimately win. Gaethje has been through such brutal, legendary wars that Topuria hasn't taken nearly as much damage in all his professional fights combined as Gaethje has already absorbed in the octagon. That's why I think it will be significant, and Topuria will win this fight. I can't say in which round. Of course, if Gaethje starts brawling with Topuria from the very first round, then everything could end very quickly, even in the first round. If Gaethje begins to fight more strategically with his head and meticulously sticks exactly to his tactical game plan, then he certainly has a very strong and legitimate chance to win. When evaluating the current odds, I would say it is probably sitting at sixty-five to thirty-five in favor of Topuria against an opponent like this.

Nikita, thank you. Once again, congratulations on your historic achievement. Double champion of the MMA Series.

Thank you, Artem. Thank you.

And I cordially invite all viewers to join us next week. And please be sure to tune in for our upcoming discussion. Goodbye, everyone.