Mark Vologdin is swollen. He’s black and blue, and has trouble walking.
Take one look at him and you’d never guess it – Volgodin (12-4-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) has never felt better.
“My face is not clean, not good,” Volgodin told MMA Junkie on Friday. “This hurt bad, but inside I am feeling the best feeling in my life. I took this opportunity and now it’s time to turn the page in my career.”
Riding high off an all-time battle less than three days prior at Dana White’s Contender Series 85, Volgodin came up on the dissenting end of three judges’ scorecards vs. Adrian Luna Martinetti, as he lost a unanimous decision with 29-28s across the board.
The fight was a slobber-knocker, with both combatants landing dozens upon dozens of strikes on the other. There were momentum shifts aplenty, and Vologdin was severely sliced open above his left eye. The fight was deemed by many, including Dana White, as one of the best ever.
“Especially in the second round when I got cut, I lost my eyesight,” Volgodin said. “I couldn’t see nothing. After, I just tried to take time to recover but he still gave me the punches. When the referee started talking to me like, ‘Get up, get up, move,’ I just stand up and went forward. But I didn’t see the opponent, I swear. I just went forward and threw punches. It was crazy, I know. Like an animal. But when I went to the corner, I saw Dana. I saw how he stood up and (clapped). He was happy. I said, ‘OK, now you get what you want.’ The people screaming in the arena, it was an amazing feeling.”
Vologdin never faltered. When it seemed the tempo might be toned down – he cranked it all the way up again, like when he threw a rolling thunder kick midway through Round 3.
“In the third round and before this, the doctor came to me and he asked me to check my cut,” Vologdin said. “After, the referee, he asked me, ‘Do you want to fight?’ He asked me this question in the fight. I said, ‘Of course, bylat.’ Bylat, this word in Russian, is very bad. I had too much emotion. I saw Dana, Sean Shelby, Hunter (Campbell), everybody scream. I was thinking, ‘Oh, you like this show?’ I can do a spinning kick also. I don’t care about, how do I say, my condition, about what happened after. But the spin kick, I put a little bit more on it.”
Not only was Vologdin surprised by the toughness and durability of Ecuador’s Martinetti (17-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), he learned about the high ceiling of his own limitations.
“I learned, for myself, I need to be more focused on my defense,” Vologdin laughed. “But also, I’m also very surprised of my chin. I can get a lot of punches. In the fight, you can believe it or not, I didn’t feel pain. Nothing. I just ate the punches, ate the elbows and knees, but I didn’t feel pain. This is crazy. But I’m from karate, kyokushin. In our sport, we used to being strong. We don’t care about damage.”
By all assessments, the bout was in a rare class, premier enough for White to stop the production mid-event to announce both fighters’ signings and $25,000 bonuses apiece – a DWCS first.
The contract represented much more than a singular moment in time for an elated Vologdin, who said he’s spent much of this week in reflection about his journey from Russia to Sweden in pursuit of combat sports greatness.
“I was thinking about this many times,” Vologdin said. “I went all the way from my beginning, from childhood. I trained karate since I was four years old. I did a lot of competitions in karate when I came to Sweden. In Sweden, it was the hardest parts of my life, very hard. I lived at the gym like Khamzat Chimaev and it was a crazy time. But it was the best time. When I was by myself, when I grew up, when I got some problems, I had to fix them by myself. No parents, not somebody. It made me stronger.”
Vologdin, 25, remarkably said he did not suffer any serious injuries as a result of the bout. He’s aiming for a December return – and already has a name in mind.
“For now, I just care about my health. I go to recover. I’ll start training and I want to make fight in winter. I want to make this debut and I have one opponent, (Hecher) Sosa from Spain. He was on Dana White’s Contender Series also. I want to fight against him. We’re both debut guys. He fought against my teammate, my brother, Bilal Tipsaev, and he won. That’s why I want to check how he is and I want to fight with him. But I don’t care. I can fight with anyone.”
Sosa (14-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) earned his UFC contract recently on DWCS and is a training partner of Ilia Topuria. He currently does not have a debut fight booked.
Until the phone rings, however, Vologdin will continue to heal. The natural high is getting him through the days more than the painkillers.
“This is the most crazy feeling,” Vologdin said. “This feeling gave me so much power and energy. That’s why I didn’t feel pain or anything bad.”
