“It All Depends on His Wife”: MMA Series Director Fedor Ryzhov Makes Surprise Prediction for Makhachev vs. Garry

Hello everyone, friends! You're watching the weekly discussion on the mma-tv.com portal. Joining me is the director of the MMA Series, Fedor Ryzhov. Hello, Fedor!

Well hello there! Hello, Yulia!

We were all very happy that on June 19th, in the main event, Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko, who made his ACA debut at the 204th tournament against knockout artist Nikola Dipchikov, defeated him by submission in the 2nd round. Of course, it was a huge responsibility in front of his hometown crowd. To win, and to win beautifully. And Alexander told us about this in the interview. So, what did you think of the fight, Fedor?

Well, it was a good fight. Alexander showed what he was supposed to show, I think. That everything is going well for him, that he's ready to fight at any level, against any opponent. I still honestly think that when he fought against Belaz in that match, it wasn't quite the right strategic choice for him to make at the time. Was it his choice or the team's, was there even a choice? Now, as far as I understand, the fight with Emeev was originally planned. That's probably more important to discuss. A fight with Ramazan Emeev was planned. For Alexander, I think this fight is a kind of closure, as people say nowadays. Because at one point, they were supposed to fight in the M-1 organization. And in that organization, they never got the chance to fight, as it turned out. After some time, Emeev went to the UFC, and Sasha went somewhere else. Well, to some other organization, I don't remember exactly. It was probably Bellator, I think. Or something like that. So for him, this fight was probably more important. Peers fighting each other. It's a fair fight. I have a lot of respect for Sasha, at least that's how I see it, just to emphasize. He's put on more weight now. Muscle and mass—I don't know how to put it exactly. And... He doesn't move as fast as you'd like, or as he used to. That's just my personal and subjective perspective based on everything we've seen so far. But the fact that Alexander is fully prepared to take on any major challenges—well, we certainly saw that too. Now we understand perfectly well that he can calmly and effectively compete against absolutely anyone. He still has the ability to catch you off guard with his incredibly clever and strategic maneuvers. That's exactly what you call winning with veteran experience. He found a weak spot on the knee, landed a heavy low kick right there and knocked his opponent down, then transitioned into a submission choke on the ground. Actually, I really liked that they later showed replays of how he trained all of that. It looks really positive. Someone, I think, even told me, 'Hey, maybe that was AI, it generated it.' I said, 'Well, you probably know better than I do whether it was AI or not, I'm not going to argue.' There will always be some people who come up with things, make up stories. As for Dipchikov , to be honest with you, it's hard to say for sure how much you can really tell whether he was fully prepared or not. Basically... He's always dangerous because he has a good left hand, he lands his shots well. But thanks to his talent, experience, and wisdom, Alexander won this fight.

Even though Dipchikov is also an experienced veteran fighter, just like Alexander, he successfully cleared out half the division over there, never stopped, and kept competing on a very consistent basis. And, basically, he's a pretty worthy opponent.

I remember Alexey Efremov, I think, an old friend of ours, I recall he beat Lesha Efremov. It was a tough fight in round three. Like many southpaws, he has a good single punch, stronger than most.

Well, speaking of emotions, I guess I'll go next. In the first round, I was a little scared; there was a dangerous moment for Alexander. The second round, of course, was... It seemed to me that after the break, Alexander was fired up, almost like a mechanical engine, and from that moment on, he just kept going and didn't back down for a second. He really did that low kick so well, just like you mentioned. The opponent fell, and then he choked him out. I think at that moment, it's a shame I wasn't there—I don't know how the crowd reacted, but I feel like it must have been amazing. The summer's top event. As you rightly said, he was supposed to fight Ramazan Emeev, who pulled out. The league champion, Magomedrasul Gasanov, left for the UFC, so the spot is basically vacant. Well now, so, after an incredible and dominant performance like that... Right after his big win, Alexander clearly said he'd like to go for the title, which was actually exactly what the league officials had already been planning for him. In your honest opinion, how open is that top spot for Alexander, really? Will he be able to take it?

Alexander is a great name. Shlemenko is truly one of the most recognized names in the country, definitely in the top five to ten names. Maybe even top five, actually. I'll just leave it at that. So, Alexander in a championship fight will always be interesting, whether he wins it or not. As for his abilities, again, I have no doubts about him. In terms of spirit and everything else, too. It's just the straightforward reality of the situation that he's 84 kilograms, a full-grown adult, with an extensive history of grueling battles behind him, and the real question is how his body's internal reserves are holding up. If he fights for the championship belt, that's definitely going to be an incredibly positive development for the organization.

Recently, the UFC made several big announcements, and the first one, of course, is the most exciting and long-awaited: on August 16th, event 330 will take place, where Islam Makhachev will face Ian Garry. Well, of course, Garry's main advantage is that he's young and hungry, and also, I think he's about 13 centimeters taller than Islam, so naturally, he has a longer reach. But that's basically it. Garry packed his bags and, as he said, went to Georgia to study wrestling. All the other advantages are on Islam's side. Do you honestly believe Fedor will be able to mount any significant level of resistance to our champion, to give him a truly formidable challenge?

Because Machado Garry... is a top-level fighter is probably not in doubt for anyone here. He probably gave Shavkat Rakhmonov the toughest fight of his career, and Rakhmonov is truly a very dangerous fighter. And honestly, I don't know what's going on with him, is it injuries? Why isn't he fighting for the belt? I don't really understand that part. But the point is, I'm sure, I didn't notice anything like that... Although, health—what does it mean to have a champion's character, you have to know that too. So I won't speculate about champion mentality, it's the same thing. I think you should ask his wife. I know that Garry always consults with his wife, and she has a big influence on his decisions. So I think whatever his wife will say, that's what will happen. If she says to win, he will win. If she says to lose, he will lose.

That will be our next goal. To talk to Ian Garry's wife, to discuss their fight. Her husband's fight against Islam Makhachev. Absolutely nothing quite like this has ever occurred before in the history of modern sports journalism.

It's not what'll happen, but if he'll win. Because if his wife says to win, of course he'll try to win.

The second announcement was the fight between Jan Blachowicz and Bogdan Guskov. They were supposed to fight already. The fight was canceled. The rematch. And now, finally, they've announced a new date. It's UFC Fight Night 282 on August 1. Well, what do you think, we've already discussed this fight too. And of course, in our opinion, the balance of power was on Bogdan Guskov's side. What do you think, has anything changed? Maybe there have been some new details since then?

What’s changed? Blachowicz just got older, by half a year or however long it’s been. That’s basically it. Nothing much has changed, he’s just getting older. If Guskov has fully prepared the way he should, and most importantly for him personally, for him it’s about knowing that he’s one hundred percent ready. If he knows that, he can win any fight against any opponent, because he’s the kind of person who needs to know himself that he’s 100% ready. Everything he planned, all the things he did, how much he ran, how much he... how many sparring sessions he had, how much grappling he did. If all of that went perfectly for him, then he’ll go out there and land a shot, you know, catch his opponent and finish him. I hope he finishes him, because last time in the second round he couldn't. I hope he can catch him and end it. Of course, I support him. Bogdan, because you all know him well. He’s an exceptionally talented, high-class athlete who not only deserves, but really absolutely needs to secure this win.

As Gor Azizyan said, absolutely no one had ever defeated Blachowicz like that before, in the same way that Bogdan just did. We hope he can break his previous record again. We truly believe in that. The UFC tournament in Baku is happening this Saturday. MMA Series alum Takhir Abdullaev makes his debut there. His record in our league is 3-0. And his opponent will be the Brazilian Jefferson Nascimento. Fedor, what do you remember about Tahir from when he competed with us? And what kind of future do you think awaits him in the UFC?

His opponent is very tough, an undefeated fighter. Takhir Abdullaev has had a huge number of fights, and has faced opponents of all different levels. If you’re talking about our league, back when he fought Lyapunov, Lesha, that was a fight where he could have lost. In the end, he caught Lyapunov in a triangle choke, if I remember correctly. But before that, it looked like... He wasn’t really all that prepared, let’s put it that way. If he’s in good shape, in great shape, he can win, he can land a punch, he can hit anyone. Anyone can go down from his punch. He hits really well. As for his prospects, it’s probably too early to say right now. Of course, we wish Abdullaev victory in this tough fight in front of his home crowd.

We hope he wins, and then we’ll be able to talk to him in person. Rafael Fiziev versus Manuel Torres. Who will win, in which round, and by what technique?

I won’t say the round. It’s hard to say. Rafael Fiziev will win before the final bell. If it ends early, it probably won’t be by submission. It’ll be a TKO. That’s my opinion. Shara Bullet versus Michel Pereira.

Will Shara be able to redeem himself after an unimpressive, not entirely convincing win and his previous loss?

Shara Bullet will win before the final bell. In the third round. A TKO? It’s unlikely to be a Twister or a D’arce choke or anything like that. I think two skilled strikers will go head-to-head against one another and try to beat each other up. Probably. It’ll be a stand-up fight, but I think Shara will have more success. Well, at least I wish him, of course, the best of luck.

Best of luck to the Pirate. Andrey Pulyaev versus Nursulton Ruziboev.

It’s a tough fight for Pulyaev, he takes a lot of shots, but he’s got heart. And I understand that’s just how life is right now, so he’ll basically be fighting as the away fighter. But I hope Pulyaev will be able to... Do what he’s long overdue for—win well, win impressively. Probably, that’s the only possible outcome. A decision in the later rounds. In the third round, it seems.

What do you think, will this be Andrey’s last chance?

He fights with great flair. This isn't his last chance. He always fights excitingly, and guys like that always get more chances, no matter what. Andrey needs to figure out what fighting in the UFC really means to him. Is it... Is the goal just to be someone who takes fights, or do you actually have some bigger ambitions? If you simply want to be able to say, 'I fight in the UFC,' like, for example, Denis Tiuliulin, who was often matched up by the promotion to test new prospects and given tough matchups— That’s one kind of career. But if he wants to actually achieve something, that’s a different career path. Right now, everything depends on Andrey. All the guys from Omsk, all the Storm team guys, will help him prepare himself for this fight. I truly wish Pulyaev a great victory. We’ll be cheering him on, he's our guy, and of course, we wish him all the very best. I honestly hope he can win this. And if he manages to get a TKO in the third round, I’ll be really happy about that.

I share your hopes and all your aspirations. I also wish Andrey victory. Thank you, Fedor, for our video discussion. Well, friends, we’ll see you next week. Come back again.

Please feel free to come back and visit us again.

Bye-bye.