Interview with Kamen Georgiev

Kamen Georgiev is one of the most experienced competitiors on the Bulgarian Combat Sambo national team.

He has won many medals in the Combat Sambo World and European championships, two times world and two times European  champion in Sanda and has won several times the national championships of Bulgaria in Sambo, Combat Sambo, Judo, BJJ and No- Gi Grappling. He also has one of the biggest MMA stats in Bulgaria.

Here is a short interview with him:

Hello, Kamen! Could you please tell us more details about your last tournament?

Hello! My last tournament was the Bulgarian nationals under ADCC rules, where I took the gold in the HW class, defeating in the finals very difficult opponent with a lot of experience in judo.

In gerenal, I like training No- Gi, because it is a vital part of the preparation of every MMA fighter.

Although, there is a tendency in most of the No- Gi tournaments, leading the competitors to use positions and gameplay, not so close to the realities of an actual fight and that brings the whole sport to a level, where the learned skillset is not applicable in MMA or even a streetfight.

I usually have more trouble dealing with opponents, who come from judo, sambo or wrestling background, because they practice their takedown game to perfection and balance it with great newaza skills. That was exactly the type of opponent I had in the finals at my last tournament and I loved it! It was a real man fight! There was no flopping on the ground and looking for ways to abuse the rules in order to gain points.

You are repeated champion in Sambo, Combat Sambo, Judo, BJJ, No- Gi Grappling and Sanda. In which of those sports have you gained more medals?

I cant say, I dont usually count my medals (laughs).

I know that there is a lot of work to be done and I need to improve my self every day. After so many fights, I dont feel the adrenaline rush anymore. Actually, sometimes after a fight I am mad at my self for not showing my full potential and making the fight more exciting.

Each one of those sports has its advantages and I am trying to use them for my benefit. My biggest love is MMA and I am looking how to train properly, in order to gain better results.

You are participating as a competitor and a coach. How do you feel after every win or loss, yours, or of your student?

Win or lose, the most important is to analize the fights afterwards. Every competition puts you in extreme situation and you cant really work on all of the possible scenarios. But the experience you gain is valuable and have to be used during training.

As a competitor, you know that once you are in the ring, you can count only on your self. Your team can help you greatly during the preparation but in the ring you are alone.

As a coach, you know that you have very limited possibilities to help your student during his fight. The stress is tremendous!

Your gold medal from the ADCC nationals is your ticket to the European ADCC championship in October. What are your plans? 

Frankly, my number one goal at the moment is the world cup of Combat Sambo in the beginning of September. Everything else comes after.

In this world championship are expected to participate some of the best athletes in Combat Sambo, Judo, Grappling, Kickboxing and etc. Many of them are world champions and medalist from many big tournaments. Some of the participants are also fighting in Bellator, which really makes it “The murderers row” (laughs).

Actually, immediately after my success in the ADCC nationals I was contacted by the International Federation of Combat Wrestling and they want me to represent them. We are organizing together an international cup on 1st of November in Sofia, Bulgaria, so I guess most of my efforts are going to be focused on that!