GLORY 19: The two sides of Alexander Stetcurenko

‘Special Operations’ police officer, rock band guitarist, management graduate and snowboarder - Alexander ‘The Great’ Stetcurenko (51-10, 24 KO’s) is not somebody who does things by halves.

Despite the jam-packed resumé - he is also currently finishing up a law degree - the Russian welterweight is a quiet, thoughtful type. He doesn’t like his nickname - a play on the historical general Alexander the Great - because he feels “it is too loud for me”.

Yet once in the ring he is different. He describes himself as “an attacker, a brawler” and says that he likes to go forward and “fight shin-to-shin” with his opponents. “I don’t like to play for points, it’s not my style,” he shrugs.

Having started training under his father at a young age he has amassed “more than 300 fights, I actually don’t know how many” in boxing, kickboxing and Combat Sambo, the Russian sport which resembles MMA.

Combat Sambo is the favorite sport of MMA legend Fedor Emelianenko and his brother Alexander. It is also the base art of the Bellator star Blagoi Ivanov and countless other Russian and Eastern European martial artists.

Stecurenko recently got to spend some time with Emelianenko as a guest coach on Russian show ‘MixFight Reality’. He got on with the former PRIDE FC heavyweight champion, who has a similarly modest personality.

This Friday, February 6 he makes his return to GLORY as he takes part in the four-man Welterweight Contender Tournament at GLORY 19: VERHOEVEN vs ZIMMERMAN

He Russian faces Nieky ‘The Natural’ Holzken (85-11, 45 KO’s) in the first round of the competition, with the winner going on to fight in the final that night against whoever wins the fight between Raymond ‘Real Deal’ Daniels (25-1, 15 KO’s) and Jonatan Oliveira (20-3, 11 KO’s).

A standout on the Russian amateur circuit, Stecurenko lived up to his promise when he turned professional. He has a trilogy of fights with the bigger Artem Levin to his name (he is 1-2 against the GLORY middleweight champion) and in 2012 won eight straight fights.

Last year his results were more mixed, and included a quick stoppage loss to Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley in Ireland. Stetcurenko blames an overactive competition schedule burning him out but says he is now ready to take a run at the top spot.

“I like extreme sports, snowboarding, mountain biking, off-road motor-biking (I have a Honda Hornet), things like this. But last winter I broke my collar bone snowboarding in mountains, and was out of the ring for few months. But it was ok because it meant I took some rest from having too many fights,” he says.

“Too many fights” might not be the only thing keeping him busy. Stetcurenko does a lot with his time.

“Outside of the ring I am working in Russian police special operations unit, I have the rank of lieutenant. And while I was preparing for this tournament I was busy with final exams for my second university degree. My first university degree is a Masters in Management, and now I am finishing my studies in law,” he says.

“To relax, I play guitar in a rock band and I also write music. Also recently for the first time I was commentator on big Russian TV station during kick-boxing tournament. It was an interesting experience.

“Personally I am not satisfied with how I did it. However, the people from the TV network said that it was good for a first-timer and they want to invite me again. I was surprised how hard it was. The GLORY commentators make it seem easy!”

Now with his exams out of the way and having had a less intensive competition schedule, Stecurenko is ready for the GLORY 19 tournament on Friday. Holzken is ranked #1 in the contender listings and is considered the favorite to win the tournament, but Stetcurenko is paying no attention to the odds.

“I am very proud to be part of GLORY. It is a place where I can meet the best fighters in the ring and show my best. I want to beat all those guys to show who I am,” he says. “And more importantly, I want to win the audiences’ love and respect,” he says.

His manager Soslanbek Izrailov chimes in on the subject of fighting Holzken. “He is only fighter who I met who never refused to fight. Alexander never asks opponent name, or purse. When somebody offers a fight, I even don’t have to call him for confirmation, because I know the answer,” he says.

“He likes to fight anyone, anytime, any rules, even for free. And I never saw him nervous or agitated before a fight. He always comes to the fight so relaxed, it’s like he is just on his way to get a coffee.”

“But he is not at all arrogant. He has such a calm and respectful personality. Always polite, always nice to everyone. I have known him for years now and I have never seen him speak negatively to anyone or get aggressive with anyone. Well, not outside the ring anyway…”

GLORY 19: VERHOEVEN vs. ZIMMERMAN takes place this Friday, February 6 at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia, USA and features Rico Verhoeven in the headline slot defending the heavyweight championship title against bitter rival Errol ‘The Bonecrusher’ Zimmerman.

The event airs live in the US on Spike TV at 9pm ET/8pm CT and will also stream live online in HD via GLORY’s new online streaming partner EverSport, a leader in live sports online broadcasting. The stream costs $20 and features both the Superfight Series 19 card and the GLORY 19 card plus a free for 24 hours.