Scott, tell us, how did you get into armwrestling?

My first experience with it was a year ago, when my friend Raymond Cote took me to a practice in Vazghen Soghoyan’s club, in Los Angeles. I had a bad car accident, which stopped me from doing powerlifting. So instead, Ray suggested armwrestling.

You are a powerlifting legend. So why armwrestling?

I have damaged my arm in that car accident, it’s a bad injury for a powerlifter. My right arm is ok, though, and I’m open to new experiences. Although my first attempts at armwrestling were terrible. I am strong, but I do not know how to use this strength. My colleagues told me about techniques, endurance, speed and I now know what I have to learn.

There was a lot of talk about your win with Travis Bagent. The video of this fight went viral around the Internet.

I went to see a tournament, where Travis was participating. Someone has asked me if I could beat him in a three-round superfight. I agreed, though I wasn’t ready. And so it happened. There were rumors that Travis was only playing, that he hasn’t really fought. But he told me it was real. I know Travis has a great left arm, but his right is strong too. Vazghen, who is my coach, was against this fight. He thinks that first you need to prepare, and then you can fight. After the fight with Travis he actually gave me a talking-to, instead of being happy. But he got over it eventually (laughs).

How serious are your (and your coaches’) plans? How far do you plan to go? Are you going against the strongest in the world?

I have been competing all my life. I cannot imagine life without sports. Armwretling gives me a chance to continue this lifestyle, and I am very thankful for that. I want to be one of the strongest armwrestlers, but I also realize this is something very new to me. I have a lot to learn. I am very lucky to have Vazghen living so close to me and teach me. We have a great team, regular practices and everyone is very serious about this, they all work very hard. I think I have a chance to reach my goal. Rome wasn’t built in a day, so I am absorbing everything I can. I am ready for new challenges.

You are phenomenally strong, but and armwrestler needs good technique. Have you learned all the details of the training process?

I train with Vazghen; he is a world-class contestant; he knows all the secrets of the sport. He is a great coach and he knows how to prepare me for training and how to teach me. Vazghen is in touch with all the great players. All who come to Los Angeles contact him, and he invites them to our club, in order to exchange knowledge. This is very important. In training I try to apply Vazghen’s philosophy, which is to be good at everything. So I do everything I can, I work on all possible angles, to be best prepared. With a demanding coach like this, you can’t not train. I have a great teacher.

Do you keep in touch with the world of armwrestling? How do you like the Vendetta in Vegas?

I watch all the important events in armwrestling. I and Vazghen often watch videos from different fights and analyze them. I have seen the armfight #43 and it was a top-level show, the best kind of armwrestling. I want to be there and I think it may happen sometime soon. But I have to be prepared first. There are no weak opponents there, and my priority is to win.

What would you like to say to your opponents?

I know that everyone wants to kick my ass … but it’s not going to happen. I respect my opponents, I learn from them and treat them seriously, because I am a professional. But I will give them hell!

Anastazia Kisilyova