Sheikh-Mansur KHABIBULAYEV: "I Adore Combat SAMBO"

At the World SAMBO Cup in Cholpon-Ata (Kyrgyzstan), Sheikh-Mansur Khabibulaev, representing the FIAS 1 team, won the gold medal in the 64 kg weight category in Combat SAMBO. After the final fight, he shared his impressions of the tournament with the FIAS website, talked about his hobby and revealed his plans for the future.

Your opponent from Kyrgyzstan, Sayak Barakanov, put up a decent fight in the final. It even seemed that at one point he caused you some difficulties. Is that so?

– I caused the main difficulties for myself when I reached the final, and decided that I had already done all the main work. This was a big mistake. At the moment when I needed to pull myself together, I decided that I could relax and had lunch with food that was unfamiliar to me. As a result, I got slightly poisoned, which made the final fight difficult for me. To be honest, I still can’t forgive myself for such a gross mistake. This is unacceptable for a professional athlete. But, as they say, let’s draw conclusions and not step on the same rake twice.

It seemed that during the fight you even got angry at yourself at some point…

– I blamed myself for this throughout the entire fight. To be honest, this victory did not bring me the joy I expected, it left a bitter aftertaste. The mistake I made was very gross, because of it I could have lost the gold medal.

You are a five-time world champion, European champion and winner of other major international SAMBO competitions. Your opponents know this, they study your style of fighting, prepare specifically for you, but each time they do not understand how to create a worthy level of opposition to you. In this regard, did you have any intentions to try yourself in mixed martial arts?

– I had such thoughts, and there are offers, but the thing is that I adore Combat SAMBO. I like it so much and it brings me such pleasure that sometimes it really inspires me to conquer new heights. Sometimes I want to accept a new challenge for myself and cope with it with dignity. But, frankly speaking, I am already 30 years old, and this is not the age when I should start holding such fights.

If I had a chance to fight with titled and famous athletes, holders of championship belts, then in this case such an option is possible, but starting small, perhaps, is not worth it. In Combat SAMBO, I am already an accomplished athlete, so it is better not to scatter, stay in this martial art and continue to compete in international FIAS competitions.

But then, if we talk about Combat SAMBO and SAMBO in general, what goals do you set for yourself? To catch up and overtake the 9-time world champion Artem Osipenko in the number of titles or some other ones?

– Artem Osipenko is, as they say, a living legend. Every time I see him on the mat, I am sincerely happy and admire his achievements. For each of us, he is an example and a source of additional motivation. But with all this, I do not set myself the goal of setting a record for the number of championship titles, for me, SAMBO is pleasure. I want to continue practicing SAMBO and perform at a high level.

So, in fact, Combat SAMBO is a hobby for you, because a hobby is always pleasure...

– Yes, you could say so, a very contagious hobby (laughs), which has completely absorbed me and does not want to let go.