Alexander Shlemenko was defeated by Alexander Ilich at the RCC 12 tournament in Yekaterinburg. At the very beginning of the fight, the Russian missed a knee to the head and fell to the floor, after which the opponent finished him off. For the ex-Bellator champion, this knockout was only the third in his career.
Initially, in August, Alexander Shlemenko was supposed to meet with Magomed Ismailov in one of the main events of the year in domestic mixed martial arts. However, the fight was not destined to take place on time due to the injury of the Dagestani. And Storm, in order not to lose time and form, got a new opponent in the face of Alexander Ilic. Despite the fact that the name of the Serb was not too familiar to a wide range of fans, the confrontation with him promised to be extremely difficult.
On the one hand, he was not even close to his future rival in terms of career achievements and regalia. If the Russian held the championship belt in Bellator and earned the title of one of the strongest middleweights in the country, then the Balkan was content with performing in continental promotions.Yes, and there his record was far from ideal: 13 wins with five defeats. On the other hand, Ilic could be called the most uncomfortable opponent for Storm. The Russian was preparing for a fight with a short wrestler Magomed Ismailov, but was forced to switch to a puncher who was several centimeters taller than him. Ilic's punching power really could not be underestimated, because nine of his 13 victories he won by knockouts, seven in the first round and only two by submissions.
He also has a hard high-kick in his arsenal, and in March 2019, the Serb finished the confrontation with Damian Janikovski with a kick.The veteran of mixed martial arts did not hide that he was not enthusiastic about such castling. “These are cardinal changes - the main training was for a wrestler who will pass and beat from below, and now they will beat you from above,” the Champion quotes the words of the athlete.The results of Shlemenko's last fights did not inspire confidence either.
In May 2021, he was stronger than Marcio Santos by an extremely controversial decision of the judges, and in October he defeated Artur Huseynov in a boring meeting.The Serb was also ready to cause trouble, who, unlike the Russian, had nothing to lose.“He has a solid killer record in his last 30 fights.He is also a great drummer, the same left-handed as me.I think he will 100% decide to trade with me in the standing position.
Yes, he is a legend, I respect him and admire him, but after the cage closes behind us, it will be a very tough fight, ”the fighter promised.Ismailov also spoke about him, who admitted: he never thought that he would worry about Shlemenko, whom he would meet at the end of the year.
