Interim UFC Bantamweight Champion Petr Yan shared his opinion on the fight of Alexander Emelianenko and Marcio Santos, which will take place on November 27 at the Fight Nights tournament in Syktyvkar.
- What is your attitude to the personality of Alexander Emelianenko?
- My attitude to Alexander Emelianenko... Again, for example, as a person, I treat him calmly. I don't know him personally. Regarding the situations that he had, I personally have a negative attitude, because it is wrong - such cases, such resonant moments ... As an athlete, he performed well before. There were times when they [Alexander and Fedor Emelianenko] thundered, when they were popular and famous, a lot of people watched their fights.
- Are you impressed by his hand speed? You are a boxer after all.
- I'm not impressed. Hand speed ... Here everything in aggregate should be in a fighter, a boxer - arms, legs, movement, thinking, and so on. We haven't seen Alexander in boxing fights. Who did he box with? With Mikhail Koklyaev? This is not an indicator, he [Koklyaev] is not a boxer.
- On November 27, Alexander Emelianenko will fight. Will you watch?
- He's coming to replace Vyacheslav Vasilevsky?
- That's right. The opponent is middleweight Marcio Santos, who fought with Alexander Shlemenko this year.
- I think, if possible, I will watch this fight. It seems to me that Alexander is not in the best shape. It seems to me that he did not prepare and accepted this fight because of the financial component. The Brazilian [Marcio Santos] trained, is training in Dagestan. I think that they all perfectly understand that for Alexander this will not be an easy walk. Maybe lose.
If Alexander did not prepare, then, of course, I believe that the Brazilian must win. If he was preparing for Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, and then the fight was canceled in 9 days... Probably, Alexander is counting on some one counter strike.
