Bellator 88's Alexander Shlemenko: Falcao is OK, but he's not that impressed

Most fighters refuse to look past their next fight – or at least say they're not going to.

And then there's Alexander Shlemenko. The Russian is so confident in his Thursday fight against Maiquel Falcao, he's already planning on what it will feel like to walk out of the cage a little heavier thanks to some gold.

Shlemenko (46-7 MMA, 7-1 BFC) on Thursday meets Maiquel Falcao (31-7 MMA, 3-0 BFC) for Bellator's vacant middleweight title at Bellator 88, which takes place at The Arena at Gwinnet Center in Duluth, Ga. The event is Bellator MMA's first trip to Georgia.

"I will prove that Russian fighters are the best and the strongest fighters in the world," Shlemenko told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "The Bellator middleweight championship belt is already mine. I'm just waiting for the moment to make it official."

Shlemenko goes after his 47th career win against Falcao and looks to extend his win streak to 10 fights – not to mention add a title to his resume.

Of Shlemenko's 46 career wins, 27 have been by knockout. And that's something he'll go after on Thursday. Considering Falcao has three straight decision wins, he seems especially intent on making a big statement.

"I will do everything to finish him by KO," he said. "He will do everything for this fight to go to a judges' decision. "I think I have the power and technique to KO anybody in the fight game, not just Falcao."

That isn't to say Shlemenko is dismissive of Falcao's skills. Well, sort of.

While Shlemenko believes Falcao has the goods, he doesn't believe the Brazilian has been backing those goods up in Bellator.

"Maiquel Falcao is very well versed," Shlemenko said. "He knows how to do everything, and he's good at everything. He can kick, punch, knee, take down, etc. But his main weapon is that he thinks when he fights, and he is capable of changing his game plan during his fight. If he has trouble standing up, he will take the fight to the ground, and vice-versa. Also, the most dangerous thing about him is that he is fighting for every point on the judges' scorecards. He tries to win every round and every portion of every round, which sometimes even hurts the spectacular factor of the fight.

"However, I wouldn't say that I was really impressed with Falcao's performances in Bellator. I noticed that he's struggling for every point; he wants to win no matter what. He wouldn't risk trying to KO his opponent. So I wasn't impressed by the excitement of his fights, but his ability to struggle for every point makes him very dangerous."

But Shlemenko also brings a big motivation to the cage on Thursday night – bigger than just merely winning a title.

After a recent move to the United States from his longtime Russian training base, he and his wife are expecting.

"Knowing I will soon be a father, I don't even want to travel to my fight because I want to spend the whole time with my wife," he said. " I have great feelings about starting a family. I'm very happy. It gives me new motivation to keep winning! And, of course, as a fighter and father-to-be, I must earn more money. And I earn money by fighting and winning."

And as he said, he already has that title wrapped around his waste.