"After long negotiations, it was decided to find a replacement for Khadzhimurat, and not to cancel the fight, – explains Igor Mazurenko. – Candidacy was picked up quickly, because there was practically no one to choose from. And we were lucky that this sportsman immediately agreed. So, rival of Rustam Babaev in the title fight becomes an armwrestler from the United States Todd Hutchings".

So Rustam Babaev again got a new rival! We want to tell a little about the history of choosing an opponent for Rustam.

Initially, rival for Rustam for the fight at Vendetta supposed to be Ermes Gasparini from Italy. The story of their confrontation began on the previous Zloty Tur, when Ermes could give a serious fight to the legendary Babaev and even win. That victory of Ermes left questions, so the armfight between these athletes was supposed to put everything in its place. But, unfortunately, Ermes could not accept this fight because of injury.

The next challenger could become Sasho Andreev. Sasho shows incredible progress every year and this year he has already dealt with Evgeny Prudnik several times, that's why Sasho looked like an excellent candidate for the role of rival for Rustam. But this match will not take place at this time, Sasho Andreev is not interested in this armfight, and it, of course, upsets the fans.

The third rival of Rustam was Khadzhimurat Zoloev, who needs no introduction and we all know what he is capable of. The style of struggle of these athletes would guarantee us all a smart duel. Not so long ago, these athletes met at the table and showed protracted and competitive fights. Imagine if they fought six rounds in a row? It would be great, but, alas...

Let's hope that the choice of rival for Rustam is over, and they will pair with Todd on November 18 to show us what we expect of them.