Heating Up For Jungle Fight 5:
Heating Up for Jungle Fight 5: RusFighters’ Alexander Shlemenko Ready for Pele! By Eduardo Alonso With many tough fighters coming out of Russia, including PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko, it would seem obvious that MMA promoters are turning their eyes to this country in search of talent. However, what seems obvious is not always what happens, and although Russia produces many quality fighters, few of them actually get to "see the light," as politics and other issues make it tough for them to reach the bigger stages. This clearly isn’t the case with Wallid Ismail’s Jungle Fight, as one of the most important fights on next Saturday night’s card in Manaus, Brazil will feature MMA legend Jose "Pele" Landi-Jons, against RusFighters Sport Club representative Alexander Shlemenko. Coming from a young team, the hardworking Shlemenko is only 21 years old himself with numerous wins already under his belt in lower level Russian shows. With an aggressive and entertaining style, Shlemenko is mainly a striker who’s eager to brawl with Pele and show his own skills in what could be the most important bout of the night. FCF got the opportunity to talk with the promising Russian before he becomes a star. FCF: Russia is a country that has produced many great fighters in many fighting styles. How and when did you start training Martial Arts? FCF: I understand you have a lot of experience in Army Combat fighting, which is very traditional in Russia. I’m sorry if I sound ignorant, but do you also have military experience? Click here to continue the article |
Across the Pond: UK MMA News By David West Murray Back in Training; Teammates Reid and Gilbert Prepare for Cage Rage
Less than two months after suffering multiple stab wounds that put his life in jeopardy, British brawler Lee Murray is back training at London Shootfighters. Coach Alexis Demetriades spoke to FCF about the return of the team’s most famous member. "He started about two weeks ago and he’s doing really well," Demetriades says. "We’re working by strict heart rate. We’re not allowed to take his heart above a certain number, so when he gets very fatigued we check his heart rate, he’s always wearing a heart rate monitor, we check it and we stop, let him recover a little bit, then take it back up to where we’re supposed to take it up to." Asked if Murray has suffered any after-effects from his injuries, Demetriades responds emphatically, "There are absolutely no long term effects. He got stabbed four times. He got stabbed in the heart. The heart’s a muscle that will repair like any other muscle. He had to have open-heart surgery because obviously he got stabbed through into his heart so they had to get to it, they broke his chest plate and they opened him up with clamps and did open heart surgery. So the thing that will take the longest time to recover will be the bone fuse, his actual chest plate. Pad work is no problem, a lot of the kicking, punching, the stand-up wrestling stuff is okay, but the jiu-jitsu, the ground work, he’s still not able to have somebody on top of him fully and put their weight on him, because obviously he’s in pain. Murray is already hungry to get back in competition, says Demetriades. "He wanted us to pencil in a fight for him, but we’re waiting. After the new year we’re looking to start training properly and get a fight within two or three months. Murray has faced a series of setbacks in the past year, from being denied a visa to return to the UFC to breaking his hip in the gym. "We were signed to fight Baroni," says Demetriades. "It was going to be announced the day before he got into trouble. There are loads of great fights happening at the moment in Cage Rage [though]. We’re real interested in Curtis Stout, Anderson Silva, Matt Lindland, any of these fights would be great for us. It’s just a matter of Lee recovering really well and having a warm-up fight before he jumps into top-level competition. We’re definitely looking forward to getting him back in the ring as soon as possible." Click here to continue the article |
From the event’s promoter: Cagewarriors Strike Force 4 – Night of Champions Saturday 26th November Skydome Arena, Coventry, UK Final Confirmed Card All bouts are to be held under Professional CWFC MMA rules and are scheduled for 5×5 minute rounds (unless stated) Card is subject to change Main Event – Vacant CWFC Super-Heavyweight Title Bout Antonio "Pezão" De Silva Junior (3-0-0) Wolfslair Academy, (Brazil/UK) vs. Ruben "Warpath" Villarreal (9-6-1) (No Limits Underground) USA CWFC Heavyweight Title Bout CWFC Light-Heavyweight Title Bout CWFC Middleweight Title Bout Vacant CWFC Welterweight Title Bout CWFC Lightweight Title Bout CWFC Featherweight Title Bout CWFC Women’s Title Bout CWFC Bantamweight Title Bout UNDERCARD Light-Heavyweight (3×5 minute rounds) |