Q. The fans were waiting for you to fight for Rizin on NYE or to fight in Russia again at a Fight Nights event. Why did you choose Bellator over these options?
A. There weren't any proposals from Fight Nights. On NYE a couple of my teammates will be fighting at the Rizin event: Vadim Nemkov and Valentin Moldavsky. I'm going to fly to Japan and corner them. And we will prepare for those fights together.
Q. Were you offered to take part in the Rizing GP?
A. Not this year. But I'm open to all promotions: We don't have an exclusive contract with Bellator, That way I can look at all the offers.
Q. Matt Mitrione has 16 fights under his belt. How many of them have you watched?
A. I think, that it's not that important how many fights i've watched. The most important thing is that from the fights i've watched I've made my conclusions. Plus, I was at the Bellator event in England, where he had his fight with Oli Thompson. So I have an idea of his technique and of what he does in the ring.
Q. On November 18 you were in the US at the Bellator event, November 26 — in Macau at the amateur mma world championships, December 9 — In Vladivostok at the MMA GP in Russia., On NYE you're going to Japan to be with your teammates. Is it hard to stay in shape, when you're traveling that much?
A. On the road, I try to train too. When I came to Macau, for example, I ran 10 km at a local gym at night, and had a very good strength training. But closer to the figh, of course, I'm not gonna travel and I'm not going to look left or right, and will be focused on my training for the fight.
Q. You have 8 hours of flight — how are you killing time?
A. I'm reading and watching anything that I find interesting from the catalog the airplane offers. But I'm not reading to kill time. Books that I always read are Gospel and Psalms.
Q. Who are you going to prepare for the fight against Mitrione with? Although the answer is, in principle, clear.
A. With my team. With my Coaches, we will invite the Dutch team and I also wnat to work with Nikolay Lisin .(head coach of the youth ММА team of Russia ).
Q. The fight will be in a cage — but you don't have a cage in Stariy Oskol.
A. I will prepare for the fight in Moscow. they have a cage there.
Q. What is your motivation now? Russian fighters get asked a lot: «In your opinion, Can Fedor become a champion once more?» and they all say: «He can, if he can find the motivation».
A. You know, if a person needs to be motivated all the time, why is he fighting then? It means that everytime, he needs to find something, so he could enter the ring/arena or even a treadmill. For me, the fact that I'm representing my country, my town, my team-is the main motivation.
Q. A championship belt — is there such a goal?
A. If God is willing.
Q. But would you like?
A. I'll keep fighting.
Q. There was a lot of noise when you walked out at the Bellator event wearing the same sweater, that you were wearing back in 2009 at the affliction events. (they call this sweater "Glorious sweater of absolute victory" in the US). Tell us, What brand is that sweater? because everybody want to buy one but can not find.
A. I don't remember the brand. This sweater was baught a long time ago, really — And I can not wear it down. I'm just wearing it carefully .
Q. You keep it simple when it comes to clothing?
A. Yes. Possibly, That's why that sweater became so popular. I'm just getting too attached to things probably. And happy, when they are not wearing down quickly.
