“This fight probably changes Eduard’s market value” – Aslanbek Badayev on Vartanyan’s debut in the “Nashe Delo” league

Vice-president of the ASA league Aslanbek Badayev commented on the match between Eduard Vartanyan in the Nashe Delo league against Alexander Grozin for Match TV.

The fight with Grozin at the Nashe Delo 85 tournament in St. Petersburg was the first MMA fight for Eduard Vartanyan since June 2023, when the athlete won the ACA Grand Prix, defeating Artem Reznikov by technical knockout. At the Nashe Delo promotion tournament in St. Petersburg, Vartanyan competed in the welterweight division and defeated Alexander Grozin by decision.

— Do you plan to hold negotiations with Vartanyan before the end of 2024?

— The ASA League is planning negotiations. In principle, these negotiations were conducted before the fight, before Eduard Vartanyan’s performance at this tournament, but in principle we had nothing to offer Edik at the tournament in August, which was filled with 21 fights, and the conditional stars capable of fighting with Edik were unavailable. And we agreed that Eduard would fight at “Nashe Delo”.

— Does the fight with Grozin, as a fait accompli, influence these negotiations?

— Our interest in Edik has not dropped at all. We wanted to bring him back to the ACA league, and we still want to. Another thing is that this probably changes his market value. As I said, I previously assumed that rust would affect Eduard. In June 2023, after the victory over Artem Reznikov, we saw the best period in Eduard Vartanyan’s career, he was at the peak of both fighting and media. And it was there that the big money we offered him was justified. But now, I think it would be fair to lower the bar. Why? Because Edik has not fought for us for over a year. By the time of his fight, and this is December at best, he will have been absent from our league for a year and a half. Plus, there was only one performance under MMA rules in these one and a half years. Not the most spectacular, and not the most confident. Therefore, I think it will be fair if Eduard’s fee is lower than what it was after his victory over Reznikov.

— Did you watch the fight as an MMA fan or as the ACA vice president who needs to negotiate with this fighter?

— I watched the fight, of course, as an MMA fan, because then you look at the fight a little differently. Before the fight, I made some assumptions, and after the fight, I make some conclusions, as a functionary, as a person who, as a promoter, can sign Edik. But it was while watching that I immersed myself in the fight itself. Well done Grozin. The guy was fast, decisive, confident. He wanted to fight standing, he wanted to hack and slash. He has good speed, good defense against takedowns. Edik worked pragmatically, worked for the result. It was clear that he was not keeping up with his speed somewhere, and his functionality sagged a little, to be honest. And it is one thing to defend against a fight, and another thing to attack yourself. Usually, Edik had to defend himself from a fight, but here he attacked himself. And this requires more energy. Not the best performance in Eduard Vartanyan’s career, that’s obvious. But for a neutral viewer, it was a normal fight. Nothing special: One tried to fight standing, the other tried to wrestle, to control.

— Would you like to see Vartanyan fight Magomed Sulumov, a lightweight who also won this tournament?

— From the point of view of a fan, I am not very interested in this fight. From the point of view of a promoter, I am also not interested in this fight, because I am interested in returning Edik to the ASA League. But, from the point of view of a friend of Sulumov, yes, I will be happy if he gets such a fight and gets the opportunity to fight in such a duel, — Badayev told Match TV.

Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments can be seen on the Match TV and Match! Fighter TV channels, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.