So far we’re 100% accurate in our picks of ‘Russian fighters we need to hype up before they hit big.’ Early last year, we told you about a guy named Alexander Shlemenko that had the power to back fist both time and space. Since then, he’s gone 10-1 in his MMA career with his only defeat being a unanimous decision against Hector Lombard for the Bellator middleweight title. We’ll hopefully see the rematch at some point in early 2012. However if Shlemenko doesn’t claim Lombard’s title, Russians across the world can still live vicariously through another one of their local MMA imports. According to MMADiehards, the UFC has signed the undefeated Azamat Gashimov to slap around their bantamweight division for the immediate future. Gashimov is 7-0 with only one of his fights going to the judges. As what we traditionally do when we introduce a Russian fighter to our audience, here’s a highlight video with really loud rap music in the background. [Source]
