Offsideplus.az presents an interview with Azerbaijani MMA fighter Agshin Babayev, who ended his career a few days ago. 

– Is the decision to end your career purely due to age, or are there other reasons?

– No, it is not related to age alone. This sport requires sponsors and financial support. Everything I have done up until the age of 40, I have done on my own. I had neither financial nor moral support. For example, no one sent me to training camps. It is extremely difficult to work and support a family, train, and prepare for a competition. That is why I was forced to end my career.

– Did the defeat in your last fight have a role in this decision?

– Unfortunately, no matter how much I asked for support, no one helped. I was forced to accept the fight three weeks before. I lost because I could not go through the normal training process. Our sport is such that you have to go somewhere and participate in training camps at least two months before the fight. No matter how many times I said to send me, they didn’t send me. After seeing the situation like this, I realized that it would not be possible to continue. Of course, ending your career after 20 years is not easy. But there was no other way.

– What was the most memorable fight of your career?

– Each of the 38 fights I had professionally was memorable for me.

– Will you continue coaching from now on, or do you have other plans?

– Yes, I will continue my teaching activities.

– In Azerbaijan or abroad?

– I am still thinking about working here. However, if I have the opportunity in the future, I want to continue abroad.

– Are you satisfied with the level of MMA in Azerbaijan?

– No.

– Why?

– Everything looks easy from the outside. They think that we have serious support. However, this does not apply to everyone. Personally, I will say that no one has supported me. If I have come this far, I have done it all on my own. No one can say, “I supported Agshin.” Today, we have quite a few young people with potential. Unfortunately, they also suffer from the same problem. With the exception of a few fighters in the UFC, no one supports other fighters. If we go deeper, those fighters are not even Azerbaijani citizens. However, there are so many good fighters in our own country that no one supports them.

– Who else from Azerbaijan do you think we can see in the UFC in the near future?

– I see Ali Guliyev, Asef Chopurov and Farid Alibabazadeh in the UFC in the future.