Alexander Shlemenko

Next Shlemenko faced Viscardi Andrade at Russian Cagefighting Championship 6 on May 4, 2019. He won the fight via technical knockout in the third round.

Shlemenko fought David Branch at Russian Cagefighting Championship 7 on December 14, 2019. He won via a guillotine choke submission in the first round.

Shlemenko faced Anatoly Tokov on October 13, 2018 at Bellator 208. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

After the stint in Bellator, Shlemenko faced Jonas Billstein at his native Russian Cagefighting Championship 5 on December 15, 2018. He won the fight via submission in the second round.

Shlemenko faced newly signed middleweight Gegard Mousasi at Bellator 185 on 20 October 2017. Shlemenko still lost the back-and-forth fight by controversial unanimous decision. Seven out of eleven MMA media outlets scored the fight as a decision win for Shlemenko.

Shlemenko faced former M-1 Global middleweight Champion Vyacheslav Vasilevsky on 19 February 2016 at M-1 Challenge 64. He won the fight via split decision.

Shlemenko returned to M-1 four months later to face Vyacheslav Vasilevsky in a rematch on 16 June 2016 at M-1 Challenge 64. Despite being battered by Vasilevsky in the first two rounds, Shlemenko rallied and won the fight via guillotine choke in the third round.

In his first fight in Bellator post-suspension, Shlemenko faced Kendall Grove in the main event at Bellator 162 on 21 October 2016. After a back-and-forth first round, Shlemenko won the bout in the second round due to a liver shot and right hook combination followed by strikes on the ground.

Shlemenko faced fellow knockout artist Melvin Manhoef in the main event at Bellator 133 on 13 February 2015. He won the bout by knockout due to a spinning back fist in the second round. On 17 March 2015, Shlemenko was suspended indefinitely for failing a post fight drug test with elevated testosterone levels. The result was changed to a No Contest. In June 2015, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) suspended Shlemenko for an unprecedented three years with a $10,000 fine. In September 2015, Shlemenko filed a writ against the CSAC to have his three-year suspension overturned. In July 2016, Shlemenko won his appeal and his suspension was lifted and his fine lowered 50%.

Alexander Shlemenko trains twice a day at the "Saturn Profi" sports club in Omsk, Russia. Although of his young age, but through his big experience in MMA and his degree in sport science Shlemenko is already active as a trainer too. His students Alexander Sarnavskiy and Andrey Koreshkov are looked as top prospects in mixed martial arts, showing impressive ground game and stand-up skills. As of March 2015, Sarnavskiy has a record of 30–2 while Koreshkov won Bellator Welterweight Championship on 17 July 2015.

Shlemenko faced Bellator Season Nine Middleweight Tournament winner Brennan Ward at Bellator 114 on 28 March 2014. He won via guillotine choke submission in the second round to retain the Bellator Middleweight Championship.

In order to appear on the inaugural Bellator pay-per-view, Shlemenko moved up in weight to face Tito Ortiz in his Bellator MMA debut on 17 May 2014 at Bellator 120. He lost by submission via arm-triangle choke in the first round.

Shlemenko put up his Middleweight title against undefeated Brandon Halsey on 26 September 2014 at Bellator 126. He lost the fight and the title by submission at just thirty-five seconds into the first round.

After his loss to Tito Ortiz, Shlemenko was expected to face Yasubey Enomoto at Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 16 on 11 July 2014. However, the bout was cancelled for unknown reasons. The fight eventually took place on 20 December 2014 at Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 18. Shlemenko won by unanimous decision.

Shlemenko was expected to face Bellator Season Eight Middleweight Tournament winner Doug Marshall on 7 September 2013 at Bellator 98. However, on 19 August, Marshall was forced out of the title bout due to an injury and was replaced by Season 8 Middleweight Tournament runner up Brett Cooper. In the rematch Shlemenko defeated Cooper via unanimous decision to retain the Bellator Middleweight Championship.

The title fight with Doug Marshall eventually took place on 22 November 2013 at Bellator 109. Shlemenko won the fight via knockout in the first round with a body punch, successfully defending his title for the second time.

On 25 April 2012, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced that the winner of the Season Six Middleweight Tournament Finale Maiquel Falcão would face Shlemenko to crown the company's new Middleweight Champion. The two men met at Bellator 88 on 7 February 2013 for the vacant title. Shlemenko won via knock out in the second round.

As Alexander stated during an interview in 2010, the hardest fight of his career was the rematch with Jose "Pelé" Landi Jons in September 2006. The reason for this was, that Shlemenko noticed after the first round that he has broken both of his hands, but he still continued to fight.

In 2010, Shlemenko signed with Bellator and made his debut in the Season Two Middleweight Tournament at Bellator 16, defeating Matt Major via unanimous decision.

Shlemenko then faced Bryan Baker in the Bellator Middleweight tournament final on 24 June 2010 at Bellator 23. He won the fight via TKO in the first round to become the Bellator Season Two Middleweight Tournament winner. In addition to a $100,000 check for winning the tournament, Shlemenko obtained a chance to fight against Hector Lombard for the Bellator Middleweight Championship title at Bellator 34 on 28 October 2010.

On 28 October 2010 at Bellator 34, Alexander Shlemenko faced Hector Lombard. Lombard controlled nearly the whole fight, landing elusive striking combinations and heavy elbows from Shlemenko`s guard. Despite taking a lot of damage that would've finished most opponents, Shlemenko actively fought back and even won the 5th round on the judges scorecards with a few well placed knees, some spinning backfists and stuffing takedown attempts. This was due to Hector Lombard relying mostly on takedowns to win the rounds after Shlemenko figured out his timing on the feet.

After the IAFC, Shlemenko fought in various organizations such as M-1 Mixfight and BodogFight. He competed in EliteXC before the company went defunct. Its assets have been acquired by Strikeforce, having made his successful U.S. debut on their 10 October 2008 ShoXC show on Showtime.

In April 2006, Alexander faced the future Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo Souza at Jungle Fight 5. Early in the first round, Jacaré moved the fight to the ground, and got a full mount position. After some heavy ground and pound, Jacaré submitted Shlemenko by an arm triangle choke. Shlemenko didn't tap and got choked unconscious. In his blog, Alexander later said, that he lost this fight, because he was a "young fool". According to his own words, Shlemenko didn`t even have a clue about fighting on the ground or grappling at all, he was still training as an ARB fighter (there is no ground game in ARB). Competing in MMA was just a hobby to gain some money while studying. After this fight, Shlemenko started to prepare himself like a professional mixed martial artist, training grappling as well.

After watching a professional pankration tournament, Shlemenko immediately wanted to try it out. Shortly after that, he made his professional MMA-debut in 2004 at the age of 20 in his hometown Omsk, winning by TKO. During the early stage of his professional MMA-career, Shlemenko competed in the IAFC (International Absolute Fighting Council). Fighting as usual multiple fights per night, Alexander won most of them by knockout, which can be seen in his record. In May 2005, after only one year of his professional MMA career, Shlemenko had an impressive 15-2 record, and was gaining more and more attention by the Russian fans and the media.

Alexander Pavlovich Shlemenko (Russian: Александр Павлович Шлеменко , born 20 May 1984) is a Russian mixed martial artist currently fighting in the Middleweight division for Bellator Fighting Championships. Alexander is an expert in hand-to-hand combat and traditional Kickboxing. He trains at the "Saturn Profi" sports club in Omsk, Russia, and holds a degree in Physical Culture (specialization - Combat Sports Trainer) at the Siberian University of Physical Culture. Shlemenko is ranked as the #8 Middleweight in the world by Fight!Magazine and #22 Middleweight according to global-mma.com rankings.