Alexandr Shabliy (born April 18, 1993) is a Russian mixed martial artist who competes in the

Lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight boxe ...

division of

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

. As of December 8, 2023, he is #1 in the Bellator Lightweight Rankings.

Background

Alexander was born in the city of

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...

to a Russian father and Dargin mother, Shabliy practices

Eastern Orthodoxy Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first m ...

. With his grandfather being a

Cossack The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

, he incorporates into his post-fight speeches by the way of his headgear. In parallel with going to first grade, his parents enrolled him in the Shotokan karate section, where the guy went three times a week. He achieved good results in sports, and graduated from school with good marks. A key role in the development of Sasha as a fighter was played by his coach, Belousov Nikolai Pavlovich, who directed his student in the right direction and introduced him to mixed martial arts, which was encouraged by his father. Despite the fact that the house of the Shabliyev family burned down and they were forced to move to a hostel, Vasily found an opportunity to reward his son for the victory with a small amount of money. Over time, along with his friend, Alexander switched to boxing, then to Thai boxing, and after that - combat sambo and hand-to-hand combat.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

But, by the time he came of age, he was first invited to the ProFC event, where he made his lightweight debut as a professional MMA fighter. But, in parallel with this career, he managed to take care of his personal life, education and a good position. The first 4 fights under the auspices of the domestic promotion, which Shabliy completed quite quickly, finishing his opponents with three submissions and one technical knockout. But in October 2011, he suffered his first loss to Mamour Fall, although the fight was very close and he lost by split decision. After, the athlete tried himself in the Oplot Challenge, but eventually returned to ProFC, starting to smash both foreign and Russian fighters there. Arsen Ubaidulaev became the second opponent to defeat him, submitting Shabliy with a rear-naked choke. However, Alexander rematched Arsen and knocked him out with a flying knee in the first round. Then, the prospect racked up victories after victories, and entered such leagues as ACB and Fight Nights Global. There he had a chance to meet with more serious opposition, but only Eduard Vartanyan managed to stop the representative of the Peresvet team, beating him by the way of split decision. Having scored a solid record in Russia, Shabliy decided to temporarily move to the United States in order to gain experience from Western colleagues, and to try to sign with a Western promotion. When the arrival to the States took place, the athlete was accepted into the

American Top Team American Top Team (ATT) is one of the primary teams in mixed martial arts. The gym was founded by Dan Lambert, who brought in former members of Brazilian Top Team Marcus "Conan" Silveira, Marcelo Silveira and Ricardo Liborio, but there is no for ...

, where he trained for 4 months, but he did not succeed in becoming part of a major promotion. As the pandemic hit, Alexander had to return to his homeland. However, after a short period of time, his manager went to

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Archaeological site of Sbeitla, Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * Bellator (fish), ''Bellator'' (fish), a fis ...

, and after fruitful negotiations, the parties managed to come to a common denominator.

Bellator MMA

In February 2021, it was announced that Shabliy had signed a multi-fight deal with

. He made his promotional debut on May 21, 2021, at

Bellator 259 Bellator 259: Cyborg vs. Smith 2 was a mixed martial arts event that was produced by Bellator MMA at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Background The event featured a Bellator Women's Featherweight Championship bout between the ch ...

, defeating Alfie Davis, a Briton with 4 win streak, via unanimous decision. In his sophomore performance, Shabliy faced Bobby King on December 3, 2021, at

Bellator 279 ''Bellator 279: Cyborg vs. Blencowe 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA held on April 23, 2022, at the Neal S. Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. Background The main event featured Bellator Women's Fea ...

, defeating his opponent via unanimous decision. Shabliy faced former Lightweight champion Brent Primus at

Bellator 282 ''Bellator 282: Mousasi vs. Eblen'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on June 24, 2022 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, United States. Background Gegard Mousasi defended his Middleweight t ...

on June 24, 2022. He picked up his first stoppage in the promotion, winning the bout via TKO in the second round.

Lightweight Grand Prix

On January 11, 2023, Shabliy was announced as one of the 8 participants in the $1 million Lightweight Grand Prix, with his quarterfinal bout against

Tofiq Musayev Tofiq Musayev (born December 15, 1989) is an Azerbaijani mixed martial artist, competing in the lightweight division of Bellator MMA. As of November 22, 2022, he is #3 in the Bellator Lightweight Rankings. Early life Tofiq Musayev was born i ...

taking place on March 10, 2023, at Bellator 292. Shabliy won the bout in the third round, finishing Musayev with a body kick that rendered him unable to continue. In the semifinals, Shabliy faced former Lightweight champion

Patricky Pitbull Patricky Freire (born January 21, 1986), known professionally by his ring name Patricky Pitbull, is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in Bellator's Lightweight division, where he is a former Bellator Lightweight World Champio ...

on November 17, 2023 at

Bellator 301 ''Bellator 301: Amosov vs. Jackson'' was a mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact comb ...

. In dominant fashion, Shabliy beat Patricky via unanimous decision, gathering all 50-45 scorecards from the judges.

Personal life

The athlete is married to a girl named Maria, whom they married when he was 20 years old, and the couple has two sons - Timur and Dima. In addition, along with the career of a deputy, Shabliy became the director of the very ProFC league in which he began his fighting path. Shabliy studied at the Russian State University of Justice, where he study a degree of law, which he uses as a deputy of the Rostov City

Duma A duma (russian: дума) is a Russian assembly with advisory or legislative functions. The term ''boyar duma'' is used to refer to advisory councils in Russia from the 10th to 17th centuries. Starting in the 18th century, city dumas were for ...

Mixed martial arts record

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Adriano Martins Adriano Soares Martins (born June 12, 1982) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division of Taura MMA. A professional competitor since 2004, he has competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Strikef ...

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Ryan Quinn Ryan Quinn (born January 22, 1987) is a retired American mixed martial artist. A professional competitor from 2008 until 2017, he competed for Bellator MMA, Titan FC, and CES MMA. Mixed martial arts career Early career Quinn began his MMA care ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shabliy, Alexander 1993 births Living people Lightweight mixed martial artists Russian male mixed martial artists Bellator male fighters Eastern Orthodox Christians from Russia Sportspeople from Rostov-on-Don