In 2016, after an epic two-match confrontation with Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, which will forever be inscribed in golden letters in the TOP of the best duels of Russian mixed martial arts, Alexander Shlemenko returned to Bellator and destroyed Kendal Grove.
The question of a superfight for Storm in Russia in the spring of 2017 came into focus, and a battle with Ramazan Emeev was in development, which was prevented by the latter’s injury. Work was done to organize a rematch with Brandon Halsey, but the American fighter said that he would not be able to fit into the middleweight category with a serious excess of several kilograms and the long-awaited rematch was impossible. After this, M-1 Global matchmakers held negotiations with a number of the strongest middleweights, free from contractual obligations with major promotions, and the choice was made in favor of the most worthy and deserved fighter.
He became Ring of Combat champion Paul Bradley, nicknamed the Gentleman, who had 23 victories in 30 fights, experience in the UFC and Strikeforce, as well as an impressive list of victories in Bellator. During his college days, Paul was one of the top four wrestlers in his weight class in the United States. “The Gentleman” was distinguished by enormous physical strength, amazing reinforced concrete durability and the ability to fight equally successfully both on the stand and on the ground. He had vast experience of performing in the world's strongest promotions against top athletes, and all this made Paul Bradley a very serious opponent even for such a star fighter as Alexander Shlemenko and very similar to his sworn enemy, Brandon Halsey, who was only one step away from revenge .
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