Former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko talked about yesterday's victory of Khabib Nurmagomedov over American Al Iaquinta, Khabib's conflict with Artem Lobov and a possible fight with Conor McGregor.
- Did you expect that the fight will develop this way?
- To be honest, I slightly underestimated Iaquinta. I thought that Khabib would finish him. I assumed that there would be no more than three rounds, because Khabib is so much stronger than Iaquinta. The American was not even in the top ten rankings.
- Do you agree with the score, or did Iaquinta win one round?
- You could give him one round, but as it usually happens: if the round is close, it is given to the champion or the one who is higher in the ratings. This is how UFC works. So the score should not be surprising.
- In the third round, Khabib did not even try to go to the ground. Why? He decided to play with Iaquinta on his field?
- I would not say that this was a field of Iaquinta, he is not such a hard hitter. Khabib overmatched him even in the stance. If he did it, why not? I think it was because Khabib came out in the octagon absolutely sure of his victory. Therefore, he felt the strength to experiment and do with his opponent everything that he want.
- Is there any disappointment with Khabib's fight?
- Of course, if he would finish it within the distance, it would be better. But let's be objective, Khabib is a fighter who usually goes all the fight, he does not have many early victories in his career. He does not like to force events, he is satisfied to go all the distance in his battles. If it works, why to change something?
- Could this be due to the fact that he did not prepare for this opponent?
- It seems to me, no. Iaquinta and Tony Ferguson are similar in style, but Tony is just many times better. He is stronger in every component. If you are preparing for the better, and you are given the worst, this is not a problem for the fighter. It would be worse if Khabib were preparing for Iaquinta, and he was given Ferguson.
- How do you assess Iaquinta as a whole?
- It's hard to evaluate him, because I do not know how hard Khabib tried to finish him or win beautifully. The opponent shows himself exactly as much as we allow him. If Khabib allowed him to last all five rounds - this is one thing, if he tried and did everything for the stoppage victory - is another. In any case, Iaquinta is not a gift, he is a decent rival.
- Would you go out to fight with a rival who has not been trained for a single day?
- If I were in the place of Iaquinta I would gladly go out, it's a fight for the title. There is absolutely nothing to lose, but the winner gets everything. On the spot, Khabib would also come out, because the champion must be ready for any opponent.
- Did you have similar stories? When they changed the opponent so unexpectedly?
- Of course, there were. High-level fighters should not be difficult to rebuild.
- What do you think about the whole epic with several substitutions of rivals for Khabib?
- It's not very good. It killed the intrigue. The poster Ferguson - Nurmagomedov was several times louder than what happened in reality. For UFC this is, of course, a failure.
- Is it possible now Khabib to fight McGregor?
- It would be more logical to arrange a fight with Ferguson. Tony deserved to fight for the title, because he lost it because of injury. This is not fair. Although the fight with Conor, too, would be very interesting, the fans would be just happy.
- What do you think about Conor's escapade at the parking lot and the conflict between Nurmagomedov and Lobov?
- This conflict had to be resolved in the hotel. Artem had to behave differently in that situation. He said unpleasant words about Khabib, everyone saw this video. A man should be responsible for his words, and not say that he did not. And Conor's trick... He stood up for his friend, but how should Artem feel? It looked like the older brother came to solve his problems. This is not serious.
