"It is more difficult to act under your own flag — there is more responsibility"

At the World Sambo Championships in Tashkent, Russian Valeria Tepysheva won the second world championship gold in her career, but for the first time she did it under the national flag. The 24-year-old athlete has once again become the strongest in combat SAMBO in the weight category up to 50 kg.

In an interview with Izvestia, Valeria told about her second victory at the world championship, explained how she came to combat sambo, in which women began competing only five years ago, and assessed the prospects for a transition to professional mixed martial arts (MMA).

— Are the emotions from winning the World Cup for the second time very different from the emotions when you win it for the first time?

— It doesn't depend on whether I have the first gold or not. I'm basically a reserved person and I don't feel much emotion. Therefore, a year ago, after the first victory at the World Championships in Bishkek, and now, after the second victory in Tashkent, nothing much has changed, I take these successes calmly. I'm already more focused on how to prepare well for future competitions.

— Is it easier to win under your own flag than in a neutral status, as you had a year ago?

— Rather the opposite. It is more difficult to act under your own flag, because there is more responsibility. But I am glad that the flag and anthem were returned to us, and we no longer performed in a neutral status at the last World Cup. It's nice to listen to your country's national anthem during the award ceremony. It was my first such World Cup. Hopefully not the last one.

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— How did you end up in combat sambo?

— MMA is my base, which is very similar to combat sambo. I've been practicing martial arts since I was nine years old. I started studying percussion techniques in 2019, when there was still no female combat sambo. And when this sport was introduced, I quickly joined it. Since she had previously competed in MMA martial arts, it was logical to go into combat sambo. That's why everything happened so well that I ended up in this discipline.

— Why did you go into martial arts in the first place?

— It was just fashionable to do this at our school in my native Solikamsk, in the Perm Region. A herd feeling rose up in me. (He smiles.)

— You said that you started in MMA. Usually, on the contrary, they go there from combat sambo, as was the case with Fedor Emelianenko, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev. Aren't you going to follow their path and return to MMA?

— I don't know, I'm not guessing. If there is an appropriate proposal, I will consider it. And everything is possible here. But it's too early to talk about it. After my first victory at the World Combat Sambo Championships, I was injured, and it took a lot of time for treatment and recovery. Therefore, there was no way to go towards MMA. I don't know if there will be any offers right now. I follow women's MMA, I watch almost all the girls, and I admit to myself that I will follow their path. However, now all the attention is on combat sambo. In any case, I want to continue to perform well and win at least one more World Championship. And then it will be seen.