I'm always excited whenever Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko is in mixed martial arts (MMA) bout. This Middleweight Russian veteran has been in over sixty MMA fights. He has once held the Bellator Middleweight title, and prior to his defeat against Tito Ortiz, he was on a thirteen fight winning streak. Last September at Bellator 126, Shlemenko loss his Middleweight title against the undefeated American MMA fighter, Brandon Halsey, by the way of rear naked choke at thirty-fix seconds into the first round. This past Friday night, The Storm redeemed himself and is back in title contention.
At Bellator 133, Alexander Shlemenko headlined the event, where he went against the dangerous Dutch striker, Melvin "No Mercy" Manhoef. Shlemenko started the beginning of the first round pushing the pace with a series spinning back strikes (both kicks and fists). In the middle of this round, he attempted a standing guillotine while pressing Manhoef against the cage. Shlemenko failed multiple times to take Manhoef to the ground, so he utilized his striking skills by landing more significant strikes than his opponent.
In the second round, Shlemenko kept Manhoef guessing by attempting takedowns, and landing spinning back kicks to his body. Then, at the three minute and thirty nine second mark, Shlemenko landed a devastating spinning back fist that knockout Manhoef. After this fight, during his post fight in-ring interview, Alexander Shlemenko mentioned that he made a mistake in his fight against Brandon Halsey, and that he wants a rematch.
A rematch between Brandon Halsey and Alexander "Storm" Shlemenko is a fight I want to see. Alexander Shlemenko is definitely one of my favorite MMA fighters, and I look forward to see him back in the Bellator circle.
Storm Shlemenko is back!
