The MMA 2021 WORLD CUP Mixed Martial Arts World Cup took place recently in Prague. Ukrainian athletes dominated the ring and achieved the best result among all national teams representing 21 countries! In total, the national team of Ukraine won 6 gold, 7 silver and 8 bronze awards. Among them, the youth team has 4 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals.
The winner in the category Men's JR Strawweight 52.2 kg (115 lbs) was a 3rd year student of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute FMM Dmytro Makarov. We will add that this student is honest and hard-working: at the same time 20-year-old Dmytro is successfully mastering sports, he passed the last session without D-marks.
The winner answered the questions of the correspondent of "Kyiv Polytechnic".
– Congratulations, you are the winner! How do you manage to win in sports at the world level and successfully study at university?
- Almost all my time is absorbed by sports and studying. Here is the routine of a normal day: in the morning - study, then at home I work on university assignments, and in the evening - training. There is a schedule that I follow. On the weekend - a walk and I can relax with friends. I do not understand peers who sit for hours and days on a bench or on the Internet, not doing anything serious.
Regarding the intensity of training. In the off-season, when we are not preparing for competitions, we train six times a week for 1.5-2 hours. And when the direct preparation for official performances begins, there can be from 9 to 12 trainings a week.
- How did you start your sports career?
- At the age of 6, my parents sent me to the football section of FC Kyiv. I played football until I was about 13, and then there was a break in classes for six months under circumstances beyond my control. Eventually I left the section. In addition to football, I was fascinated by martial arts since childhood, and then a good friend of mine advised me to go to the Phoenix Fight Club, where there was a new intake. I started to engage in mixed martial arts and in 7 months took part in the championship of Ukraine among children aged 14-15, where I took third place. It put me on fire. HI soon became the second in the same competition, and in 2019 I became the champion of Ukraine among 16-17-year-olds. In the same age category I performed in Rome at the MMA World Championships and took third place. Then the new championships of Ukraine, where I also successfully performed, received the title of master of sports, was selected for the national team of our country. And finally, the recent competition - the World Cup in Prague, where the MMA 2021 WORLD CUP took place in September this year. Our youth team, of which I was a member, won the first team place, I also have the first place in the individual standings (weight category 52.2 kg).
- Did you receive material support from the relevant organizations or the Ministry to travel to the World Cup and after winning it?
- After returning from the competition, we were not invited to the Ministry, maybe it will happen later. And we went to the Cup at our own expense, or rather at the guys with whom I train in the gym (and there are about 40 of them), we collected money on the trip together.
- What big competitions will take place in the near future?
- At the end of November, the world championship will be held in Nursultan (Kazakhstan). The World Championship (not the World Cup) in our sport is the most important tournament. We are already starting preparations for it.
- What can you say about your studies at the university?
- I am proud to study at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. As you know, this is a wonderful university in many respects. And I as a student feel this and can confirm the positive feedback about alma mater. At the same time, I would like to wish that the university better supports student-athletes who represent the university and our country at international competitions. And I am very grateful to my parents, who support me morally and financially. I try to live up to their expectations with my good education and high achievements in sports.
- How do you see your future - in sports achievements or in work in the speciality that you will get at the university?
- Now the priority is sport. But I also find a lot of interesting things in studying at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. It is possible that if for some reason sport ceases to occupy an important place in my life, I will apply the knowledge gained at university.
Volodymyr Shkolnyi interview
Reference: MMA, from English. Mixed Martial Arts is a sport and a category of martial arts that includes a variety of means and methods of defence and attack in hand-to-hand combat.