On September 11th in Sioux Falls, USA, Fedor Team representative, Russian fighter Valentin Moldavsky will fight American Steve Mowry at Bellator 298. The first fight between these two fighters was ruled a no contest due to an accidental eye poke by the Russian.
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In an exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net, Moldavsky talked about:
- how he prepared for his fight with Steve Mowry;
- what Fedor Emelianenko told him;
- why he will not talk Vadim Nemkov out of moving up to heavyweight;
- how he once competed in a sumo tournament;
- what role publicity plays in the success of the UFC;
- what he expects from Jon Jones' fight with Stipe Miocic.
"I couldn't find a sparring partner as tall as Mowry"
- How did you prepare for your fight with Steve Mowry?
- We went to Sochi where I trained with Nikita Krylov, Sergey Bilostenniy, Denis Tiuliulin and Oleg Popov, who I had trained with before. There were guys who were heavier than me, but we couldn't find a taller guy for the training camp. We had to work with guys who were about my height, but strong and heavy.
- There are very few heavy guys like Mowry in Russia. I can only think of Denis Goltsov and Deniss Smoldarev.
- I would love to train with Alexander Volkov, but he was in America. We talked to Denis Goltsov, he wanted to come, but in the end he couldn't make it.
After the fight with Vassell, Fedor said: "Well, you missed a punch, it can happen to anyone"
- How did Fedor Emelianenko help you prepare for the fight with Mowry? Did he take an active part in the sparring?
- I actually sparred with him a couple of times. In general, he would guide us on technique before each training session, he would also watch us sparring and wrestling and give us advice as usual.
- Did he give you any specific advice after the fight with Linton Vassell and during the preparation?
- Of course he gave me advice before the Vassell fight and after the fight.
- What did he say?
Fedor said: "Well, you missed a punch, it can happen to anybody. Of course, if he just crushed me, that's one thing, but it was my own stupidity. For some reason I decided to exchange punches with him when it was possible to just wear him down like last time, wait and win the fight. But I took a risk, it didn't work, it happens. But I can't say that I didn't fight properly. I just started exchanging punches with him and pulled my hand back to open myself up for a hit. But you can see that my opponent was working on that combination, which is good for him. Besides that, Fedor gave me the same advice as before - to keep working on the things I have been working on.
"If I said to Nemkov: "Vadim, keep destroying your health", it wouldn't be friendly of me"
- In the fight with Mowry you had no problems to break through his defense. Could he have changed something in preparation for the fight to surprise you?
- Of course any fighter can change drastically from fight to fight to work on something and prepare, so you can't relax. Last time it was obvious from the first minute that he was going to lose. I think he and his team have done their homework and this time they will take the last fight into consideration. They're pros and they're probably on to something.
- Now there is more and more talk about selling Bellator and the company hasn't announced any new events after the 299th tournament. Do you have a plan of action if the sale happens?
- We'll see. We have to wait and see what actually happens. Right now, I'm only thinking that I have to fight and win, and then whatever happens, happens. If you start to look beyond your opponent, things go bad, so you have to focus on this stage and then you have to think about what to do next.
- There are two other teammates going to America with you, as well as Fedor and Vadim. Will it be easier to prepare for the fight in such a big company?
- Do you think the more people, the more fun? Vadim and Fedor traveled with me for the interim title fight with Timothy Johnson. It was good and comfortable. Then we traveled with Vadim, and we seconded each other. That was good too. Now there will be a lot of us and that's not bad either. Anyway, I feel okay when I'm preparing for the fight.
- What do you think about Vadim's wish to move up to heavyweight?
Considering that Vadim doesn't have much choice, I understand this decision. If it is really necessary to move for health reasons, otherwise you can ruin your health, then you have to do it. I can't say to him, "Vadim, keep destroying your health. I'm going to be a heavyweight, and you stay at light heavyweight and destroy your body". That wouldn't be very friendly.
"I don't agree that every UFC champion is tougher than any champion in any other organization"
- You even competed at sumo when you were young. Can you tell us about that experience?
- I did it. They gave me some money and I went there. I was 18 years old, studying at the university and training. My coach told me: "Tomorrow there's a sumo tournament in another city." They offered me money and a daily allowance. Why not? I went and tried it. I won two matches, and then I lost to myself. I made the first opponent touch the mat, I pushed the second one out of the circle, and then I lost the third one by touching the mat.
- You didn't do any special training or preparation for this sport?
- No, of course not. It was just a one-day event for me.
- If the merger of Bellator and PFL happens, will the organization be able to compete on an equal footing with the UFC?
- I don't know. I'm not an image-maker, I'm not a manager, and I'm not the head of either organization.
- I'm talking about the roster of fighters and their level.
In terms of the roster, it is possible. The thing is, the success of the UFC is not about the fighters, it's about the PR machine of the organization, but it can all be compared to the whiskey that Conor McGregor came up with. It's very popular, everybody has bought it, but I doubt that it's the highest quality, the best and the tastiest. It's just the PR machine of the man who promoted it. The UFC PR machine works the same way. Some PFL, Bellator or UFC fighters are stronger than others. But you can't just say that every UFC champion is necessarily tougher than any champion in any other organization. I can't agree with that.
"When Jones intentionally punched Glover Teixeira in the eye five or six times, nobody did anything about it"
- You have a passion for medieval weapons. How big is your collection and are you still adding to it?
- Not yet, but I'll do it one day. Right now I am concentrating on other things.
- And how do you feel about historical reenactments?
- Fine. I've been to a few of them. It's all very interesting.
- Did you participate or just watch?
- You have to order or forge all the armor at your own expense to participate, because no one is going to give you their armor to run around in. It takes a serious investment of time and money.
- You said that Stipe Miocic can compete with Jon Jones in a title fight. What advantages do you think he has?
- It's like his first fight with Francis Ngannou when everyone said Miocic was going to die and he didn't have a chance and he just blew him out of the water. The same thing can happen here. Miocic is a good wrestler, unlike Ciryl Gane. He also punches well and is a thinking fighter with several plans. It's clear that Jon Jones is still the favorite, but a lot of times in MMA and other martial arts fights, the favorites haven't lived up to expectations.
Jones seems to win against anyone, but then there were the fights with Dominick Reyes and Thiago Santos. He didn't even win against Reyes, and it was a close fight with Santos, who blew out both of his knees in the fight. After that, Santos and Reyes got crushed in their next fights. Did he take away their luck in those fights or something? I think Miocic can surprise us if he can get close to him.
- What will be the biggest problem for Miocic in this fight?
- The big problem for anybody is Jones' long limbs and constant poking to the eye. He tries to knock a guy out with a poke to the eye. I've done that once in my life and I only accidentally brushed against the eyelid and there was so much fuss. When Jones intentionally punched Glover Teixeira in the eye five or six times, nobody did anything about it. How does it work like that? I think if something doesn't go according to plan in the fight, Jones is going to blind Miocic. Of course, Jones has a better chance because of those tricks up his sleeve, plus his stomps and those unexpected sharp elbows that come out of nowhere, but I think Miocic has a good chance as well.
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