“What sport does he represent?” said Karelin, speaking to reporters at the Ivan Yarygin Cup. “A Russian sambo wrestler? Well, that’s a continuation of the claim laid down by Fedor Emelianenko and Khabib that Russian sambists, no matter which regional school they represent, are victorious in this confusing kind of competition.”
Note that Alexander Karelin is highly critical of mixed martial arts and does not consider it a sport, referring to MMA as a system of competition.
As for Islam Makhachev, he plans to make the next defense of his championship belt this summer.