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Alexander Shlemenko Talks About His Return At Bellator 162

October 20, 2016 | Posted by Joseph Lee

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Alexander Shlemenko (53-9 MMA, 11-3 BMMA) spoke about making his return to Bellator in the main event of Bellator 162 against Kendall Grove (23-15 MMA, 4-2 BMMA). IT happens at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. The main card airs on Spike after preliminary fights on online. Here are highlights:

On finally returning: “I’m back and I’m ready to put on a show in this fight. In the U.S., Bellator is like my home. I’ve had more fights in Bellator. I’ve had more good, spectacular fights here.”

On training against tall fighters for Grove: “This time, I didn’t get a chance to bring 6-foot-7 guys to my training camp. However, I know really well how to fight against such tall opponents. If you watch Friday, I’ll show you exactly how to do it. (Alexander Volkov and I) don’t train together right now, but I used to train and spart with him a lot, so I have quite a bit of experience with a guy who has a big height advantage.”

On preparing for Grove: “To make it clear, we tried to bring guys who would mimic Kendall Grove. But it’s difficult to find someone in this weight division who is as tall as him. Some of the tall guys are southpaws, but they don’t mimic him because (Grove) is not a southpaw. Some of the guys were tall, but they’re heavyweights, and they move differently than a guy who is many pounds lighter.”