Exclusive Q&A With “Bellator 269” Winners Kirill Sidelnikov, Anatoly Tokov & Usman Nurmagomedov
Bellator is a leading global MMA and kickboxing promotion featuring many of the best athletes in the world. Under the direction of veteran fight promoter Scott Coker, Bellator events take place in major cities around the world and can be seen on television in over 160 countries to an available audience of over 1 billion people. In the States, Bellator events from all over the world can be seen on Showtime — a new TV deal announced earlier this year — and online via Pluto TV and Bellator’s YouTube channel.
Bellator’s latest big event was Bellator 269, as also known as Bellator Moscow. Within the event’s main event, Russian heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko made a highly-anticipated return to the cage following a nearly 22-month, defeating then-#2-ranked contender Tim Johnson. In a co-main event inside the VTB Arena in Moscow, Russia, former Bellator Heavyweight Champion Vitaly Minakov returned to combat for the first time in more than 2 years when he faced #8-ranked Said Sowma; Sowma picked up what many would call a surprise victory. The big event also saw Usman Nurmagomedov in action against Patrik Pietila and Anatoly Tokov battling Sharaf Davlatmurodov.
Following their victories, I had the pleasure of conducting Q&A with several of the winners at Bellator 269, including Kirill Sidelnikov, Anatoly Tokov and Usman Nurmagomedov via Zoom, as embedded below. More on these fighters and future Bellator MMA events can be found here, here and here.
About the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
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