Ismailov: "In five years, ideally I see myself in grave with a good luggage of good deeds"

Russian mixed martial arts fighter Magomed Ismailov talked about his plans after his career and where he sees himself in five years.

- What is your ultimate goal in sports?

- Finishing my career - that's the main one. And then I'm going to move up a little bit in the media sphere. And cast a shadow over you journalists and bloggers.

- What do you mean by "cast a shadow"?

- It means you're gonna look at it and think, "Man, why can't I do that? Why didn't I think of it first? I'm basically a charismatic and bald guy too! Why not me?" There you go - throwing shade.

- Where do you see yourself in five years?

- I don't know, maybe in the grave.

- And ideally?

- Ideally, with a good baggage of favors in the grave. But I don't know, honestly.

- How do you visualize your success in five years?

- Success for me is to be better than I am today. First and foremost, as a Muslim. Secondly, as a Muslim. And the rest comes with it. If you are good as a Muslim, if you are progressing and developing, then as a person you are growing. Your temperament, your patience with people - everything changes. You become more forgiving, more honest. It's all a religion. And I want to be the best at religion. The Almighty didn't create us to do MMA and all the things you and I are talking about right now. But if we can do something better through the media field to make people who look at us smile, to make them want to strive for God... There is a benefit in that, too. I think I am not made to be an MMA fighter, I think I am the kind of person who should make the world a better place, to be a close and easy person for people. To be a breath of fresh air for people. I want to fly and be happy. Here I am flying on an airplane, and I am happy! Here is something that happened to me and I will be happy because behind me is a good piece of life in sports and a good piece of life ahead of me. With good intentions. Because I worship, because I spend more time in knowledge, carrying the benefits. The killer of ignorance? Knowledge! Becoming wiser is where I see happiness in the future.

Right now I can't say I'm a happy person. Sports don't make me happy, to be honest. I'm close to the end of my career. Very close. And I'm more interested in other things. I want to be the kind of person who doesn't give in to temptation. Who will have a reason to leave with the hope of heaven. What will we take with us? No cars, no titles, no belts. What do we take with us? The blessings or our bad deeds. That's the only thing that makes sense. You already forgive me that in 5 years I don't dream of being some super-unbeatable...Maybe in those 5 years you'll find me praying modestly somewhere. Or maybe I'll be trying to do something good through the media sphere. And something good isn't very popular right now. So I'm going to take a very difficult path, as I always do.

Ismailov will have a rematch against Vladimir Mineyev on October 16 in Sochi, Russia. Their first meeting took place in October 2018 and ended in a draw.