Alexander Emelianenko: “I’m satisfied with the level of my last opponent and my performance”

In the first part of his interview for Blood and Sweat magazine Russian heavyweight Alexander Emelianenko told about his last fight and holes in his game that he is working on

- Hi, Alexander. What impression of your fight with Tadas Rimkevicius do you have?

- Everything was good, I’m satisfied with the level of Tadas, my performance in this fight and outcome of the fight

- What did Fedor say to you during the fight?

– He pointed on the mistakes that I did in the first round and gave me clear instructions what I have to do in the second round. Thanks to his advises, I didn’t make these mistakes again and knocked my opponent out in the second round

- Could you tell a little bit more about the mistakes you made?

– I think, everyone saw them clearly. Sometimes I forgot about my defense, sometimes I switched to defensive more when I didn’t need to. Another mistake is that I was in hurry to finish the fight as soon as possible

- You had very good training camp with Fedor in Holland. Why you didn’t throw the kicks in this match?

– My kicking technique is still far from being perfect, so I could make some mistakes using my kicks. I kept the comfortable distance between us, my hands were faster, I knew that I look better in stand-up battle, so it was enough for me. I will use the kicks as soon as I will be confident in this component, but now it’s too early. Fedor threw a lot of lowkicks in his fight with Monson, but he got injured because of these kicks and after the fight with Ishii injury just got even worse. I talked with him yesterday, he told that his leg is just healed after these two fights. That’s why I don’t throw the kicks yet: I don’t want to use the moves that I’m not sure about, taking the risk to get injured and and let victory slip away

- The name of the tournament was “M-1 Challenge 31: Oleinik vs. Monson”, but your fight got main event status eventually. Could you tell us, what was your purse for this fight, if it’s not business secret?

- I don’t fight for money, I fight for idea and popularization of MMA and sports overall. This tournament was called “Oleinik vs. Monson” before my fight was added to the fightcard

- What can you say about the way your opponent looked? Ex-bo- How it was to see him not reacting on your punches? Were you upset?

– No, actually, I was very happy when my punches landed, because I saw that they hurt him very much. I knew that his smile after my punch means that this punch was good enough. I would be very upset and concerned if I would see him going forward all the time after my punches – then I would realize that something is going wrong

- Did he knock you down in the first round?

– No, I just slipped

- You lost against Magomed Malikov by knockout, but even after this fight you keep your hands low when you’re fighting. Why?

– Because there are some holes in my technique that I need to fix. I’ve been wrestling and fighting in sambo all my life, I’m not boxer, so there is a lot for me to learn. I’m going to work on my stance and position of my hands

- Vadim Finkelstein told that he would like to organize the rematch between you and Magomed Malikov in Dagestan. Do you like this idea?

– I’m ready to fight with anybody. But I like the fact that there are some negotiations about the rematchxer Konstantin Tszyu called him “man from pub”

– He is a good fighter. Maybe he doesn’t look very athletic, but he uses all his weight in the fight. He was throwing very good and heavy punches during the fight. But if you mean six-packs and stuff like this (laughs)… Actually, there are a lot of boxers and MMA fighters with the same body proportions

http://www.m-1global.com/2012/04/01/alexander-emelianenko-im-satisfied-with-the-level-of-my-last-opponent-an-my-performance-part-one/

I don’t fight for money, I fight for idea and popularization of MMA and sports overall.

The Emelianenkos don´t need Zuffa because sometimes there are more important things than just money.

Alex might need the money but he is rich enough as it is, richer than many UFC fighters. Fedor is rolling in Fedor money, id even say that he is the biggest earner in MMA. Fedor made the right moves and dont need to rely on a scum promotion like Zuffa.

I'm extremely happy for Aleks. I'm hoping he fights atleast 2-3 more fights this year and maybe fights in Japan at a NYE event. That would be nostalgic.