"Sanya and I fought in the US at one tournament - EliteXC. It was 2007 or 2008, I do not remember exactly. He won his fight, and I fought after him. I did not see him that night. I had a second-hand coach and two managers. In that fight I won on points, but could not knock out my opponent. I struck many strokes, but his head was wooden. And then I heard that someone in Russian was shouting: "Hit the body! Hit the body!". I heard it and thought who it is in Russian shouts to me. And then again: "Left on the body!". And at this moment I hit the left on the body, the rival immediately sat down, I saw that I hit it, drove him under the net and finished it there. Then I turned around, looked for the one who shouted, and this was Sanya Shlemenko. That's how we met and since then we maintain contact, we are friends"
