"I don't fall for filth"
Why did he ignore Andrey Orlovsky's call, why does he not like to communicate with bloggers and for what reasons Vadim Nemkov signed a contract with PFL. The legend of mixed martial arts Fedor Emelianenko told about this and many other things in an interview with Izvestia and Sport-Express.
"Judging by what is spewing out of Orlovsky's mouth, there were some consequences from that blow."
— It's a pity that you didn't come to the second fight with Bader in the best shape. We saw you in a duel with Timothy Johnson. They were two completely different Fedors.
— Unfortunately, I got sick with everything I could get over. I decided to get out. I wanted to finish this story already. She was hanging, my children were being born, I didn't want to postpone it, but it so happened that at the last moment all my preparations went wrong and I got sick.
— As far as I understand, it was important for you to keep your word to Scott Coker and work out all three fights under the contract.
— You know, this is a man with whom there was no need for any contracts. That's how long I've worked with him, he's the only person in the industry... Before that, [promotions] gave money to managers just to lower the fighter's fee. In almost all organizations. But they talked to him, they shook hands with him, and in principle he didn't need contracts. The contracts with him were a formality.
— Will you have a boxing fight after all, what do you think?
— God willing, it will be.
— It's difficult to make such a fight. Here we need a rival like Mirko Krokop, and an organizer who can offer normal conditions.
— Let's see. We almost failed, let's just say. Although we have already signed agreements. Well, we'll wait and see.
— You ignored Andrey Orlovsky's challenge.
— What should I say? How to react? I don't know what to say... Probably, there were consequences after that blow (referring to the victory over Orlov by knockout in January 2009. — Ed.). Judging by what is spewing out of his mouth.
— Is this the only person who, so to speak, includes trash talk in your direction?
— I don't speak the demonic language. And I don't fall for these things. Serbian Patriarch Pavel said such a thing: "We can be offended just as much as we ourselves will be offended." Someone can spill a drop from a glass on me, and I can jump up, start waving my arms and grab onto my breasts. And you can understand that a person is sick inside, how badly he lives, that he has such anger. Because this is an unhealthy conversation. Let's say Mirko Krok and I crossed paths once, had a good chat, like old friends, "How are you?" "How are you?" In a good way, without any. And I'm interested in fighting him, I'm ready. Our fight is still remembered. And here I would be ready, but when they start trying to get you hooked on some kind of abomination, I don't fall for it.
— So if the organizer of the fight with Orlovsky is found, will you refuse this fight because Andrei speaks out sharply?
— Of course. What for? Now is the time. But the Lord, he is the same at all times. You can say, "I believe in God," but you can do some dirty things or say abominations yourself. This shouldn't happen. If we put on a cross, we must carry that cross.
— Dmitry Smolyakov said that Netflix was interested in your fight with Orlovsky, that you have big financial demands, that you would not agree to fight for less than a million and a half dollars, and Orlovsky for less than a million. Were there any negotiations?
— There were no such negotiations with anyone at all. Generally. Conor McGregor said something there, and in Kazakhstan, and Umar Kremlev - who wasn't ready to organize a fight, but it's all just words. The people I negotiated with, they didn't identify themselves in any way.
— You mentioned Kazakhstan. What were your impressions of the interview with the Kazakh YouTube channel, where you were asked about Vladimir Putin, his athletes in politics?
"Unpleasant." Because I was invited to an interview on sports topics. I want to talk about my guys, about sports. The first part was really like that. And then came the political issues.
— And you didn't ask for approval?
- no.
— Why didn't they?
— I said, why ask such questions? They answered me: He is one of the leading bloggers. So what's next to talk about this topic? I think that's what I said. As it is, as I see it.
— Did it make you be more careful in terms of interviews?
— I always try to think before I say something. The Gospel says, "By your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." Yes, and our sayings "The word is not a sparrow — it will fly out, you will not catch it" and so on. Of course, we need to control our words — what comes out of our mouths. Not just from the mouth. Even if I write something nasty about someone under someone else's name, it doesn't mean that it didn't come from me. Maybe you don't know that it's me, but the Lord knows.
"A guy came up: "I'm a blogger, I have 16 million subscribers." I thought it would make an impression on me."
— Returning to your meeting with the children in Stary Oskol. You said that this is a huge problem — that children want to become bloggers, not get a profession. As I understood it, they want to do something that does not require any special training.
"That's right.
— Not what you need to learn to get a skill for. Did I understand you correctly?
— Approximately. Who's the blogger now? A guy came up to me in the gym and said, "Hello, Fedor, I'm a blogger, I have 16 million subscribers." He probably thought it would make some kind of impression on me. I answer: "I'm sorry, dear, I live in slightly different terms, so I'm not interested in how many millions [subscribers], and I'm not interested in this direction at all." The Lord created us to work. Let's say I move in sports. Although now in other directions. But if the Lord has put me here, I try to do my job as well as possible. It's not language that draws attention to itself, but skill. Thank God, the guys are the same. Vadim Nemkov is loved not because he slanders his rivals, but because he is an honest, decent man who lives with his family, sports, and other guys have businesses, too. The most important thing is to keep your heart pure, to purify it from abomination. I will quote Patriarch Pavel again: "We will be human and never inhumans."
— So you're talking more about the moral side of the issue...
— And it's everywhere, it's always. This is especially true for people who seem to carry faith. Who put on a bigger cross than his father's... But it will be much harder to answer for this cross. Because you have to match what you're wearing. At least try to.
— If you take Sergey Loafer, who built your house, as an example... By the way, is the house ready yet?
- yes. Thanks to Sergey, thanks to the Kirov guys. The house is finished.
— He is, in fact, also a blogger, not only a builder.
— It was used as an advertisement, as a way to draw attention to his work.
— But do you consider him a blogger? He also has a YouTube channel.
— He is a man of work. And he shows his work in order to be in demand. Instead of putting up all sorts of rubbish, something provocative, in order to have 15-16 million subscribers and receive a thousand times more money than a person who works as a steelworker, milkmaid, trucker, whatever.
— But you graduated from vocational school with a red diploma.
— Yes, an electrician.
— Do you remember any of the things you studied for?
— I can screw in a light bulb. And unscrew it (laughs).
— Do grounding, something like that...
— Well, yes, of course.
— So you have the skill.
— There is a skill. But I've already forgotten a lot.
— Have you ever worked as an electrician?
— I've been practicing. And then I joined the army, and I no longer worked in my specialty.
— Did you have any other jobs besides sports?
— I worked as a watchman from the age of 16, I had to help my parents. My mother got me a job at a college, and I was a watchman. And I also worked as a watchman in the old hall at Nevsky. And when I turned 18, I also started working as a coach. Since I was 18 years old, I have been working as a coach to this day.
"Tokov just disappeared after the fight with Shlemenko"
— Why did Anatoly Tokov leave your team?
— This is a question for Anatoly Tokov. I don't have an answer to that question. The man just disappeared after the fight with Alexander Shlemenko. He left before the fight. We all gathered for a training camp, and the day before that, he left for Dagestan. Good. I called him.: "Tolya, where are you?" "Oh, we've already arrived here, we didn't know there would be a gathering." - "Well, okay, you left, train there, get ready, okay." It doesn't make sense. But after the fight with Alexander, he didn't respond to text messages, phone calls, or anything. The guys went to see him. He went down [to them], they told him: "Tolya, what are you doing? We are a team, we support you." "Yes, yes, yes, I'll come, I'll come." He never came.
They went to see him twice like this, with an interval. It's been a long time, but Anatoly hasn't shown up, and he hasn't come. He called me once and said, "Fyodor Vladimirovich, I'll be there." It's been a few months, and he hasn't come. How long can you wait for a person who says he's coming but doesn't show up? They told him, "I'm sorry." Although Volodya (Tokov, Anatoly's younger brother. — Ed.) here, at the training camp, he plows. Volodya works with us — with all of us together. Tolya was gone, and that was it. This is his path, his choice. Well, how long can you wait for a person when he misses workouts and does not answer either calls or SMS?
— After Tokov's fight with Shlemenko, you wrote that the RCC league should introduce doping control. It was hinted that Alexander used doping.
— It was after Alexander's interview was sent to me, where he said that Tolya's back was covered in pimples and something else. But Tolya took a doping test at Bellator every time, and they never found anything on him. And Alexander was caught on doping. Therefore, it is not for Alexander to talk about doping. I have friends who have not only a back like that, but also a face. This is due to diseases. It's better to have a pimply back than a pimply soul. That's why I answered that way.
— Were you surprised by Anatoly's performance in the rematch with Shlemenko?
— Yes, Tolik didn't know what he was doing...
— He had a very bad fight, that's a fact.
— You know, Tolik had a lot of kickbacks... I coddled him... I spent the most time with him and Kirill [Sidelnikov]. I paid the most attention to them in the team. And so people just reset... We won't speak for Kirill, but specifically for Tolya: we build techniques with him, build certain practices with him, and in the end we even say: "Tolya, you have to do this, this and this, write me down." He's recording me on his phone. I tell him, "You have to do this every day in training. Come in 10 minutes and do this job. These movements will set you up for further work so that you don't become enslaved." As a result, there is zero work from Tolya. And so on for years. While we're collecting, we'll sort everything out, and then go on this way. And then, one time, and that's it, and Tolya disappears into nowhere...
"I like Ankalaev. He is not a babbler, but a plowman, and a very cultured person."
— Magomed Ankalaev lost to Alex Pereira...
— It's a pity. I know Magomed, I treat him with great respect, I really like him as a person, as a person.
— What advice would you give him? Have you ever had similar situations...
— Life goes on. Nothing, everything is still ahead. Draw conclusions and go ahead. He was already a champion. I believe he can. He's talented. And most importantly, he is not a babbler, but a plowman, and a very cultured person.
— Vadim Nemkov has signed a new two-year contract with PFL. So we won't see him in the UFC anymore?
— And the UFC didn't want to see him. There were negotiations, but they answered us specifically: "We understand that Vadim can become a champion, but we are not interested in the Russian champion right now."
— And who is currently representing Vadim's interests among the foreign managers?
— Let's ask Vadim directly. It's just the two of us, I don't want to name you. American.
— How likely is Vadim's fight with Francis Ngannou if he gets past Renan Ferreira?
— Probably. Why not? Likely.
— Is there no feeling that Ngannou is not particularly interested in this?
— I do not know. I have to cook for the guys. It is necessary that their contracts are good, that they are secured, that they go up. And these underhand games between organizations are "interesting to us", "we are not interested"... You have to be above that.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
