What happened to Minakov?

[blaseblah]

I used to think this guy was top 10 and should go to the UFC. And maybe he was at one point. But his last performance against Kongo in his 40s was terrible. Then he comes out and has a competitive fight with a guy I've never heard of and calls off the fight when he breaks his finger. I've never seen this before. I've seen fighters break their finger and keep fighting but never quit before.

What's sad is he seemed like one of those fighters who could go into their prime at an older age. It's heavyweight, he's barely taken any damage in his career, and he took several years off from the sport. But he's only regressed since his Bellator comeback.

 

[TR1]

He plateaued years ago TBH. Around 2017 he seemed to stop evolving and had numerous underwhelming performances.

 

[SokoudjouFanboy]

He said he was sick all week leading up to the Kongo fight and I'm inclined to believe him because he looked uncharacteristically bad. That said I think Kongo is better in Bellator then he was in UFC and losing to him isn't some gigantic blemish, especially given the circumstance.

Tonight a bit of a different story. He seemed like he was too conscious of not gassing and wasn't pulling the trigger enough. Fought a slow pace and didn't go back to the well with his wrestling enough. That being said I think you have to give a lot of credit to Sowma who used calf kicks to tremendous results and completely changed the narrative of the fight. I think Sowma is a good fighter, fights like he has more experience then he does and believe he's got a bright future. I still think Minakov can beat most heavyweights in the world and could have won tonight, but I get a feeling he's had a foot out of the door of fighting for a while now.

 

[tehMoose]

Sowma is better than most of people think he is

His only legit loss was in his debut against Mowry who is undefeated. He was robbed against Fortune

In his fight against Fortune he also did barely anything in the first round and when he saw he can compete with him he took over and won the other rounds. Same as in the Minakov fight

He is a legit HW

 

[SalvadorAllende]

He has a political career and is basically a MMA enthusiast at this point. He has looked like he does not care for years. Collecting some paychecks here and there and showing out of shape.

The physical difference between him when he was Bellator champ and now is huge.


Look at this:

Spoiler: lazy google translation

I watch the election programs of my colleagues and parties. Many of them are very voluminous. At the very beginning I said that I would not draw up any multi-page documents and plans. I think this is ineffective. Because the real problems that need to be solved can only be learned by talking with voters - residents of our region. That is why I pay so much attention to meeting people. And despite all sorts of obstacles, I manage to carry them out. I take note of all difficult situations, I will offer possible solutions. In addition, there are several major obvious points that I will work on. This is the cancellation of the pension reform and the reduction of the retirement age, improvement and repair of yards in the region, support for industrial and agricultural enterprises and their employees, as well as guaranteed employment of university graduates in the Bryansk region on decent terms. We need to attract young people to stay in their small homeland. Conditions for the educational, sports and creative development of young people will not appear by themselves either - a systematic and regular approach is required.

 

[TorontoTO]

He said he was sick all week leading up to the Kongo fight and I'm inclined to believe him because he looked uncharacteristically bad. That said I think Kongo is better in Bellator then he was in UFC and losing to him isn't some gigantic blemish, especially given the circumstance.

Tonight a bit of a different story. He seemed like he was too conscious of not gassing and wasn't pulling the trigger enough. Fought a slow pace and didn't go back to the well with his wrestling enough. That being said I think you have to give a lot of credit to Sowma who used calf kicks to tremendous results and completely changed the narrative of the fight. I think Sowma is a good fighter, fights like he has more experience then he does and believe he's got a bright future. I still think Minakov can beat most heavyweights in the world and could have won tonight, but I get a feeling he's had a foot out of the door of fighting for a while now.

Didn’t go back to the wrestling well is an understatement, he never tried it. I don’t think there was any takedown attempts or even clinching in this bout

 

[SokoudjouFanboy]

Didn’t go back to the wrestling well is an understatement, he never tried it. I don’t think there was any takedown attempts or even clinching in this bout

He took him down in the first round. Sowma managed to sweep him and get back up after which I don't believe he tried to wrestle again.

 

[moreorless87]

He took him down in the first round. Sowma managed to sweep him and get back up after which I don't believe he tried to wrestle again.

Moreso Minakov almost let him up standing over him but really an older HW losing a lot of his wrestling ability isnt that uncommon, espeically if there not in great shape, striking wise I don't think Minakov was ever on the level of the big Sambo names of old so losing that it a bigger negative for him.

 

[No Mas]

Have the scorecards at the time of stoppage been made public? I have a hard time believing any judge scored the second for Sowma especially in Russia even though BJM gave it to him, but he's goddamn awful at scoring most of the time in any non-obvious round.

 

[SokoudjouFanboy]

Moreso Minakov almost let him up standing over him but really an older HW losing a lot of his wrestling ability isnt that uncommon, espeically if there not in great shape, striking wise I don't think Minakov was ever on the level of the big Sambo names of old so losing that it a bigger negative for him.

You're right. My memory of the exchange was that Sowma managed to sweep him by pushing off of the cage with his leg but after watching again Minakov managed to stay on top and stood up to try to stack and get some shots off but Sowma kicked him off and got up.

 

[CC27]

I used to think this guy was top 10 and should go to the UFC. And maybe he was at one point. But his last performance against Kongo in his 40s was terrible. Then he comes out and has a competitive fight with a guy I've never heard of and calls off the fight when he breaks his finger. I've never seen this before. I've seen fighters break their finger and keep fighting but never quit before.

What's sad is he seemed like one of those fighters who could go into their prime at an older age. It's heavyweight, he's barely taken any damage in his career, and he took several years off from the sport. But he's only regressed since his Bellator comeback.

Would have been interesting to see how he would have done if he went ot UFC 7 years ago when he had the issues with Bellator and left.

 

[blaseblah]

Have the scorecards at the time of stoppage been made public? I have a hard time believing any judge scored the second for Sowma especially in Russia even though BJM gave it to him, but he's goddamn awful at scoring most of the time in any non-obvious round.

Does it matter? If Minakov was up 2-0 that would make it even worse than he quit.

 

[AnthonyCasso]

I used to think this guy was top 10 and should go to the UFC. And maybe he was at one point. But his last performance against Kongo in his 40s was terrible. Then he comes out and has a competitive fight with a guy I've never heard of and calls off the fight when he breaks his finger. I've never seen this before. I've seen fighters break their finger and keep fighting but never quit before.

What's sad is he seemed like one of those fighters who could go into their prime at an older age. It's heavyweight, he's barely taken any damage in his career, and he took several years off from the sport. But he's only regressed since his Bellator comeback.

I don't think people on the internet quite understand what people go through. I was training at CSW and watched Barnett go through some injuries and personal shit out of his control when he fought Ben Rothwell, he just couldn't focus well and lost. Alot of times shit doesn't culminate well for others. I knew a Judo guy from Russia I trained with who does mma and left Siberia to go train in Stary Oskal. He gave me the skinny on Fedor, bad knees , bad back, hands that so bad he could barley close them or constantly re-injuring shit. One thing that stuck he said was that Fedor had a hard time living up to the pressure of being number 1, and dealing with parasites, users and politicians. His ex wife was just in it for clout not the older one but the one he was with in 2011. I think Minakov either had injuries or decided the fight wasn't worth it to risk more damage. These guys really go through a lot of bullshit.

 

[TorontoTO]

I don't think people on the internet quite understand what people go through. I was training at CSW and watched Barnett go through some injuries and personal shit out of his control when he fought Ben Rothwell, he just couldn't focus well and lost. Alot of times shit doesn't culminate well for others. I knew a Judo guy from Russia I trained with who does mma and left Siberia to go train in Stary Oskal. He gave me the skinny on Fedor, bad knees , bad back, hands that so bad he could barley close them or constantly re-injuring shit. One thing that stuck he said was that Fedor had a hard time living up to the pressure of being number 1, and dealing with parasites, users and politicians. His ex wife was just in it for clout not the older one but the one he was with in 2011. I think Minakov either had injuries or decided the fight wasn't worth it to risk more damage. These guys really go through a lot of bullshit.

Fedor is back with his first wife btw. Ya Vadim Finkelchtein screwed him out of money, and so did his second wife. That was the reason he unretired

 

[TorontoTO]

He said he was sick all week leading up to the Kongo fight and I'm inclined to believe him because he looked uncharacteristically bad. That said I think Kongo is better in Bellator then he was in UFC and losing to him isn't some gigantic blemish, especially given the circumstance.

Tonight a bit of a different story. He seemed like he was too conscious of not gassing and wasn't pulling the trigger enough. Fought a slow pace and didn't go back to the well with his wrestling enough. That being said I think you have to give a lot of credit to Sowma who used calf kicks to tremendous results and completely changed the narrative of the fight. I think Sowma is a good fighter, fights like he has more experience then he does and believe he's got a bright future. I still think Minakov can beat most heavyweights in the world and could have won tonight, but I get a feeling he's had a foot out of the door of fighting for a while now.

Likewise, he looked crap against Kongo and then amazing against Tim Johnson. I think the long layoffs are bad for him and there is a 50/50 chance he comes back looking way better in his next bout

 

[moreorless87]

Guys like Barnett, Werdum, etc are just other examples of aging HW's who lost a lot of their offencive wrestling ability, I mean Fedor too really although maybe less noticeable as he was focusing on striking well before that.

Striking wise I always felt Minakov was "good" rather than "great" so losing that grappling I think has hurt him more.

 

[Yrat]

I remember when I saw Vitalys first fight 2010 when he made a judo throw with one hand and I think Isaid"he is the next Fedor and will be in Jdx"

11 years later he lost in uncessary fights

 

[Feniamin]

He has a political career and is basically a MMA enthusiast at this point. He has looked like he does not care for years. Collecting some paychecks here and there and showing out of shape.

The physical difference between him when he was Bellator champ and now is huge.


Look at this:

Spoiler: lazy google translation

I watch the election programs of my colleagues and parties. Many of them are very voluminous. At the very beginning I said that I would not draw up any multi-page documents and plans. I think this is ineffective. Because the real problems that need to be solved can only be learned by talking with voters - residents of our region. That is why I pay so much attention to meeting people. And despite all sorts of obstacles, I manage to carry them out. I take note of all difficult situations, I will offer possible solutions. In addition, there are several major obvious points that I will work on. This is the cancellation of the pension reform and the reduction of the retirement age, improvement and repair of yards in the region, support for industrial and agricultural enterprises and their employees, as well as guaranteed employment of university graduates in the Bryansk region on decent terms. We need to attract young people to stay in their small homeland. Conditions for the educational, sports and creative development of young people will not appear by themselves either - a systematic and regular approach is required.

I think he doesn't have a political career anymore. He gained around 12 % at election in Duma. Plus, I haven't seen it myself but I've seen mentions that in one of recent interviews he said that if he didn't lost at elections he would not fight anymore.

 

[r-harper-1]

Can crusher that was never much good imo ……can’t fight a minute with a fucked up finger ?

 

[r-harper-1]

Guys like Barnett, Werdum, etc are just other examples of aging HW's who lost a lot of their offencive wrestling ability, I mean Fedor too really although maybe less noticeable as he was focusing on striking well before that.

Striking wise I always felt Minakov was "good" rather than "great" so losing that grappling I think has hurt him more.

There wrestling wasn’t good when they were young ….especially Werdum