Susurkaev on his shape ahead of Santos fight at UFC 328, Chimaev’s advice and revenge on Strickland

Hello, friends! You are watching the weekly discussion on mma-tv.com. My name is Yulia Mirey. And today we will be discussing UFC three twenty eight, which will take place on May tenth in the USA. Russian fighters Khamzat Chimaev, Alexander Volkov, Roman Kopylov, and Baisangur Susurkaev will be competing at this event. Let's discuss the preparations with someone directly involved in these events, Baisangur Susurkaev. Hi! Hi!

Hello everyone.

Baisangur, are you going to walk out to Tsoi?

Yes, that's the plan. I just had a conversation with my manager. We decided to shorten the introductory melody a bit so it transitions into the main lyrics much faster. That is just how it is. It seems they have approved it, so most likely that is exactly how I will be walking out.

That will be legendary. To 'Gruppa Krovi,' right? I really think it's going to go viral. Your fight on the Contender Series and then your first two fights in the UFC happened in a very tight schedule. You fought three intense fights in just three months. Now you have an extended six-month hiatus. Did you manage to recharge completely and make truly good use of this period?

Well, of course, I prioritized my health. This entire preparation took me about three months. I have never had such a long and intensive training camp before. And, you could say, for the first time I can show myself fully prepared, without injuries and without having to cut weight twice in four days. Twice I fought within four days, and the third time I went in with an injury. And yet, all of those victories were decisive finishes. That is exactly why I believe I will be able to show my true potential much more effectively now.

By the way, how are things going with your weight cut? Do you still have to cut a lot more weight?

Well, basically, if you take into account all of that extra weight I was carrying, when I first arrived at the training camp, which was nearly 3 months ago, I weighed close to 103 kilograms, and now I weigh 92 kilograms. And I have already started cutting down even further to 84. So, I am not entirely sure how much that makes exactly. So, 13 and 6, well, that's about 18 to 19 kilograms.

Is it completely normal for you to cut that much?

Yeah, we reduce our body weight gradually. My natural weight is actually not that high, around ninety-six or ninety-seven kilograms. It was just a bit of extra weight. Because of an injury, I was treating my leg and working out at the same time. I was sweating a bit, and after a fight, everyone eats. Someone would always come over, or invite me somewhere, and I would end up eating. I love to eat. And that's how my weight went up, plus I started working out. Now everything's going well, no problems. Everything is going really well progressing nicely.

So, you feel fresh and energetic, like never before in your last three fights?

Exactly, that has definitely been the case in my last three fights. I told my loved ones and family that I was already training hard well before joining the UFC. The guys who live over in America often take regular fights with just one or two weeks' notice. They are willing to fight anyone just to get their big chance to break into the UFC. But I actually had 2 fights before the UFC in a short period of only 2 or 3 months. I was already preparing for it. I knew about the upcoming fight 2 full months in advance. I prepared really well. And when I got into the UFC, I thought I'd be preparing for fights for half a year each time. And just like that, two fights in four days. Then, just a month later, I had another fight. So basically, with no preparation and injuries, all of those things one after another, and I was still out there fighting. Well, I definitely didn't expect that I'd be competing like this in the UFC. But now, things have turned out the way I hoped they would. I prepared extensively and endured a very long training camp. Now, let's see how it all unfolds in the end.

In one interview, you said that for this fight, well, the upcoming one, your only fear is not finishing early. But is there anything else you're working hard on specifically for this opponent?

I specifically mentioned the fact that just like during my very first professional boxing match, which I had right there in America, you seem to be afraid of knocking him down, even when he clearly starts to stagger. And then you shout that your opponent is moving like that, looking completely unsteady and unable to stand firmly on his own two feet at all. And you instinctively want to finish him off and end it beautifully, end it quickly, you know. And I already had a moment like that—I tried to finish someone off like that, and I got really tired. He didn't give up, he survived that moment. In the first round, I knocked him down two or three times and still couldn't finish him, and I got extremely tired. I said that this is exactly what I'm afraid of—that if he somehow survives, my body will start chasing after him again, trying to finish him off, and I might... The only thing that could possibly happen in this situation is that I might find myself getting tired quite quickly and lose total control of myself. And I said that this is what I'm afraid of. But not being able to finish—that's not really scary. In other words, I never really set myself up to get the finish, but at the same time, I'm always afraid of it too. If the finish doesn't happen, that's actually great. Experience—three rounds, fighting for three rounds—not everyone can do that, it's not easy.

Well, that was actually my next question. You're a very bright, charismatic fighter. Mainly because of your early finishes. So in this fight and as you move forward, your number one goal should not necessarily be to finish off the match early. The number one goal is just to win at any cost. No, I mean, not at any cost whatsoever, right? Just like in that song you walked out to exactly?

Yeah, not at any cost, just... Well, if you look at it from a distance, then yes, at any cost. What I mean is, victory is what we need most, victory is the most important thing for us. I don't know who I'd have to be matched up with for me to feel like I have to win at any cost in those kinds of fights. Especially since the opponents they're giving me now aren't in the top rankings. I'm not in the top either, but they're not in the top as well. There is no one at all operating at the highest level over there. There is no need for anyone to do something like just holding on or stalling for time. It reminds me of when Aljamain Sterling beat Petr Yan in their fight. I truly hope that moments like that never happen again in the sport. And that I will not ever have to do that. I wouldn't want to do that. It is probably better to lose with your dignity intact than to win like that. But my mindset is always to win, no matter what it takes to get there. When I step in, I'm already looking for the finish. I don't know how it works. Whenever it is that I go out to fight , I don't really have the mindset that I must win or finish him off. But once I step into the ring, my only focus is on finishing. It just works all by itself in some mysterious way.

Your opponent, Jorden Santos, has only two losses in his career, and never once by stoppage. Do you see this as a special challenge for yourself?

Yes, I've watched his fights too, and we discussed it with the team. He's definitely got a good chin. Every fighter who ever faced him tried their hardest to drop him, aiming to hit him square in the face, right on the jaw, or land a clean shot to the head. He has a real chin and can truly take a heavy punch to the head. I think you just have to find a way to trick him, work the different levels, maybe take out his lead leg, take him down to the mat, work the body, and then of course, go for the head too. But you know, everyone sees these things differently. Oliveira wasn't on the map yet either. Topuria didn't put him completely to sleep either. So, Holloway too—I honestly can't recall him ever being fully knocked unconscious. I suppose everything eventually comes with time. I believe there are more than enough vulnerable spots and openings to take him down for good. Even if I don't hit the jaw, but land lower on the head, the leg, or the body, I'm confident that I will eventually find a way to finish it.

If I understood correctly, you had a two-fight contract, and after your last beautiful finish, again, the contract wasn't renewed as you expected. Am I right in understanding that now you have an agreement from fight to fight?

No, actually, my contract was originally for four fights, and they promised me that after two fights—so I won the first one, finished it quickly, and for the second one, they told me that if I get another finish, most likely they will give me an improved new contract soon. And they didn't give it to me. That's what I was talking about. But now, after the third one, after the third fight and even just a win, even without a finish, if I win, they should—everyone gets it from them. So they just told me that it would somehow be improved, because of the three finishes, I set a record, they could have given it after the second fight, but they didn't. And that's what I was talking about. But now, if I win the third fight, they should already give me a new one.

Many people often refer to you as Chimaev's rightful successor, and your name is frequently and consistently brought up right alongside Khamzat's. Doesn't that bother you?

No, I like it, I actually choose it on purpose. Regarding this particular matchup as well, I mentioned that they actually arranged this entire bout for me themselves. I am personally deeply fascinated by these historical moments myself. Right now, my own story is being written, but it's not like theirs. They have already successfully won the championship. They're defending those belts now, and they are making history. My time will come, when it won't matter who I face, but right now, I think it's a truly fantastic opportunity for me to compete with them. And I really do like it.

Do you think he will be there in your corner?

Unfortunately, he won't be able to be in my corner. He's fighting that same night, so they won't let him do it. Otherwise, I really think he would have wanted to.

You've been working and training hard together for this tournament for the past few months. Do you have any specific words of advice on staying mentally prepared?

I've never had any problems mentally. The only thing is, I recently talked to someone with experience as well. This is a show that everyone puts on for the fans. Sometimes you also get caught up in it... You really get into the heat of the moment and you start thinking to yourself that you are truly strong, that you are truly powerful. Sometimes you get completely switched on, just like I did during my professional debut in Chicago. I actually started to believe in my own mind that I was totally invincible, that I was really some kind of unstoppable powerhouse. And then, I almost got myself knocked out right there. That was a big mistake. You can't let yourself believe that. You have to understand that your opponent is just like you, that he is also a dedicated fighter, and that he is also a very hard worker. That is exactly why anyone can lose to a single, unexpected punch. Basically, that's how people go down. And you too. Anyone can fall. That's why you can't put your faith in that. It's all just a show for the fans. That's why fighters shouldn't get caught up in it. I really think that was some very good advice indeed.

During this recent training camp, you got to work with Brendan Allen. He's currently sitting at number four in the world, and were you able to get a better sense of where you stand compared to a top middleweight like that?

I trained with Brendan about three years ago. We train together at the same gym. I helped him prepare for his fight against Nassourdine Imavov, when he fought in France. I was his main sparring partner for that camp. Back then, I wasn't even in America yet. I have known him for a very long time now. We have done lots of sparring, wrestling, and just about everything together. So now, even... I do not even remember if we worked together during this training camp. Oh, I think we wrestled a couple of times. But the truth is, we didn't spar together.

But, if you had to be honest, how would you rate your own skill level when compared directly to his?

I don't want to put him down or anything, but I truly think I could compete exactly where he does. I am very confident about that. Specifically regarding this ranking, even now, at any given moment, give me any opponent from the one fifteen division, and I'm sure I could compete at that level. But you see, when you get into fights like that, it's more about the psychology and the overall mentality. It's no longer about how you train in the gym, or what you can show in the gym. I can go into the gym with the number three or number four ranked guy, beat him, but stepping into a real fight, where there are fans, where there's that whole atmosphere... That really hits home and resonates deeply, that is exactly what it is. That is why for intense and challenging fights like these, you really need unwavering mental preparation. But if you look at technical skills, peak physical conditioning, and overall endurance, I have absolutely no doubts about my readiness.

What goals are you setting for yourself? If everything goes according to plan and God is willing, everything will go well in the upcoming fight. I was wondering if you would like to try to enter the title race already in twenty twenty six? Or do you want opponents who are a bit easier for the time being, just to get used to it and gain more experience?

Just as I have said, I do not need to gain experience specifically in fights. The only main thing is the show itself and everything surrounding it. At first, I really used to get a bit nervous about all that. Now I don't think so anymore; I approached my second fight well too. Well, you see, it is really just that... I wasn't looking for an easy fight. I called out Nickal. At this very moment, my primary focus is to achieve a decisive victory in this competition, and once I have secured that win, I intend to step forward and publicly call out my next opponent to make a very clear statement about my future intentions in this league. Roman Dolidze, he is ranked number 14 in the UFC. Marvin Vettori, he is ranked around 19 or 18 in the UFC middleweight division. So I really want to climb my way into the top 20, somewhere in the top 15 to 20 range, immediately in my next fight after this finish. Whether they will actually give that to me or not is something we will just have to wait and see about later on.

As you were just pointing out earlier, the UFC builds an entire entertainment spectacle around the fights, and in that specific sense, Strickland has already engaged in a significant amount of aggressive trash-talking regarding Khamzat. In your opinion, does it affect him in any way? Or is he calm about it?

Well, as I see it, he doesn't react to it at all. He just says that he's a clown and he's just making money. And when that same clown came up to us while we were in Vegas—when we were coming here for our camp, we stopped in Vegas, spent a week, or a week and a half training there. And we ended up in the gym with Sean Strickland. More precisely, we met there—they had a training session, and we had a training session. He saw that we were Chechens. He came over and tried to talk to us. We did not speak to him or shake his hand. Instead, we turned our heads away as if we didn't even see him. He came up once, twice, three times. I had a mutual acquaintance, an American, who invited us. He came over with him and said, 'This is Baisangur, this is so-and-so, that's so-and-so.' He started introducing us. And so we had to get acquainted—it was already awkward since he kept coming up again and again. And he says, 'Where are you from?' He acted as if he didn't know. And so we told him, 'We are from Russia, specifically from Chechnya.' And he says, 'Oh, you are Chechens, you must be Famzats, my good friends.' 'I respect you all very much, because you are truly real men.' 'I know I often say a lot of complete crap about you and about Russians.' 'I know you're not happy about this and that.' He said things like, 'These moments, it's just that I have to make a living.' 'It's my job, so please don't be mad at me.' That is exactly what he was saying to us. We understood him, both as a person and as a man; that is how I see him. He is a man of real character; if you compare him to many of the Americans you see here in this area, you can see he is a thoroughly decent and respectable guy. He is someone who can really stand up for himself. But these things he does, we find very difficult to understand. That is simply the way their mentality works. That's probably why we'll never understand. We have different mentalities. Then, right after the training session was over, he brought all of us out together—specifically our guys, like, the Chechens. He thanked us sincerely in front of the whole gym for coming all this way. So he praised us, and then on the second day, he invited us to sparring. And then it was the same thing there. After training, he brought us into a circle, praised us, people applauded us, you know. I said things like that, and then we left there, not even a week passed, and he’s sitting there again, insulting Khamzat and Chechenza. I honestly don’t know how to put it, you could call him a complete and total idiot. But they are incredibly and deeply hypocritical, very hypocritical people. That is just the fundamental way that their entire mentality works, even. Like, today they say one thing, tomorrow another. They’re just not used to being accountable for their words, so to your face they say one thing, behind your back another. That’s how they live. Khamzat personally says that he is completely unfazed, and that those words have absolutely no impact on him at all. In other words, he says it not because he wants to, but because he has to. So I guess I really need to get used to this situation too, as perhaps it is simply a matter of gaining more experience. No matter how it turns out, we are truly not satisfied with it. If there is ever a real opportunity, he or anyone else will have to answer for the words they have spoken.

You probably get messages a lot, and you personally too, like, "Tell Khamzat to get revenge on him for those words," and so on.

Yeah, yeah, there are comments in my DMs. People constantly write, asking what we’re going to do to him. He needs to be killed. People write all sorts of things. But unfortunately, the reality is we are simply not allowed to kill anyone. Well, that is just the sort of country we live in.

Are you living in America all the time now, or are you staying back home in Grozny?

No, I am actually in America right now. Hopefully, not for long. I am working hard to complete all of this paperwork as fast as possible and finally return home to Russia. Specifically, I want to go back to Grozny, because I really do miss the city of Grozny.

Following your last fight, you mentioned that your primary financial goal was to make it so that your mother could quit her job. Did it work out?

If you mean from a financial standpoint, then yes, it has actually worked out quite well. But she hasn’t quite quit her job at the moment. She’s still working there with her close friends, who are also our longtime neighbors, and they all work together. And she simply doesn’t want to leave them behind at this stage. Like, well, she just feels uncomfortable leaving. They don’t have the opportunity, and she feels uncomfortable leaving by herself. And just a couple of months ago, she mentioned that they only have a few short months left until the entire job is finally finished. It is almost like they are building a mosque; they are the cooks working on building the mosque, and they are just waiting until the mosque is completely finished. So, when you think about it, it is really not for much longer now. It should be finished in a couple more months. And she requested it; she wanted to stay until then. We didn’t try to persuade her—if she really wants to keep working, then let her work.

And I have a final question before we move on to our next segment. What do you think, what character traits does practicing martial arts develop?

Generally speaking, those who practice and perform well are often quite humble and soft-spoken. At least, from my own experience, the ones I know are just like that. Because day after day, these fights—specifically in the gym—wrestling, boxing, getting hit in the head, and then having conflicts with someone on the street as well. You think, why do I need this? I just show up to the gym, I get completely beaten up there, and you wonder, why would I want to go and fight someone else now? That is exactly why I believe it is so incredibly necessary. I am certain that young guys truly need to train and stay active, to be fully able to stand up for themselves and protect their loved ones in any difficult situation. If you were raised with the right values and principles, you would never want to humiliate someone weaker or make fun of them. That is why I think it is absolutely essential to do at least some kind of sport to build both strength and character.

We have a predictions segment. Besides your fight, there are three more Russian fighters who have upcoming bouts. You said about Khamzat that he’ll take it to the ground and choke him out. Which round do you think it will happen in?

Khamzat, I think, in the second or third round. Either he will finish him off by technical knockout or he will choke him out. This is your local weather forecast.

Alexander Volkov - Waldo Cortes-Acosta. Who will win, in which round, with what move?

To be perfectly honest, I only saw certain parts of Waldo's fights. But I honestly believe Volkov will win. I really like his style, and the work he does is consistently impressive. He always fights very intelligently. I honestly think he will win, but I can't say exactly how he'll do it. Because he doesn't really fight for the knockout either, he just systematically breaks his opponent down, level by level. So, I honestly think Volkov will win. Maybe just by unanimous decision.

It's Roman Kopylov versus Marco Tulio.

Here, I think Roman will win by pressing the action. I've watched a few of Marco Tulio's recent fights, or rather, some segments of them. He is the kind of fighter who, when he has got good endurance, also throws incredibly powerful punches. But he simply does not have the same kind of experience that Roman has. For some reason, Roman has started his most recent bouts very cautiously. He just needs to start taking more risks in the ring. I don't know if you could say he shouldn't be afraid of his opponent or of getting hit by his opponent. He just needs to take more risks. He's a very good fighter. Especially as a striker. All he really needs to do is believe in himself again and start putting in the hard work once more. I believe he is going to win this fight by a knockout.

What do you think, in which round?

The opening round is also quite good. If he does not manage to beat Roman in that first round, it is possible that Roman will knock him out in the second round. This is because what happens in the first round will show what is going to come next. Both Roman and he put a lot of effort into that first round. They both hit well, but after that they start to slow down a bit, get a little tired. And things will become much clearer during the next stage of the fight. If Roman manages to stay aggressive and doesn't get overly cautious, he should be able to clinch the victory in the second round.

Baisangur, thank you for the interview. Among all the young athletes of the new wave, not just Russian but in general, in my personal opinion, you are truly one of the most interesting, because you really have a unique fighting style where, especially when you're in the heat of the moment and smiling, you provoke your opponent... a fight in the center of the octagon. That's really cool. Every single time you step out, you think to yourself, this is going to be a celebration, and you can't look away. And most likely, it is going to be very short. Of course, I wish you victory, so that it is short once again. And spectacular, in your style, just the way you like it. I'm waiting for Tsoi. Thank you.

Alright, we'll come out to Tsoi and do everything the right way. Thank you very much, good luck to you.