Fighting for the IAFC After watching a professional pankration tournament, Shlemenko immediately wanted to try it out. Shortly after that, he made his professional MMA-debut in 2004 at the age of 20 in his hometown Omsk, winning by TKO. During the early stage of his professional MMA-career, Shlemenko competed in the IAFC (International Absolute Fighting Council). Fighting as usual multiple fights per night, Alexander won most of them by knockout, which can be seen in his record. In May 2005, after only one year of his professional MMA career, Shlemenko had an impressive 15–2 record, and was gaining more and more attention by the Russian fans and the media.
Rise to prominence After the IAFC, Shlemenko fought in various organizations such as
M-1 Mixfight and BodogFight. He competed in
EliteXC before the company went defunct. Its assets have been acquired by
Strikeforce, having made his successful U.S. debut on their 10 October 2008
ShoXC show on
Showtime. Alexander won most of his fights, often by KO or TKO. Through the series of wins, some of his losses were corner posts for his development as a fighter and his whole MMA-career.
Shlemenko vs. Ronaldo "Jacaré" Souza In April 2006, Alexander faced the future
Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo Souza at Jungle Fight 5. Early in the first round, Jacaré moved the fight to the ground, and got a full mount position. After some heavy ground and pound, Jacaré submitted Shlemenko by an arm triangle choke. Shlemenko didn't tap and got choked unconscious. In his blog, Alexander later said, that he lost this fight, because he was a "young fool". According to his own words, Shlemenko didn't even have a clue about fighting on the ground or grappling at all, he was still training as an ARB fighter (there is no ground game in ARB). Competing in MMA was just a hobby to gain some money while studying. After this fight, Shlemenko started to prepare himself like a professional mixed martial artist, training grappling as well. According to one of his blogs, Later, in an interview Shlemenko said that this loss made him stronger, and gave him a lot of motivation to train harder.
Bellator MMA In 2010, Shlemenko signed with
Bellator and made his debut in the Season Two Middleweight Tournament at
Bellator 16, defeating Matt Major via unanimous decision. In the semi-finals of the tournament, Alexander defeated
Jared Hess, after Hess dislocated his knee, forcing the TKO via stoppage. Shlemenko then faced
Bryan Baker in the Bellator Middleweight tournament final on 24 June 2010 at
Bellator 23. He won the fight via TKO in the first round to become the Bellator Season Two Middleweight Tournament winner. In addition to a $100,000 check for winning the tournament, Shlemenko obtained a chance to fight against
Hector Lombard for the Bellator Middleweight Championship title at
Bellator 34 on 28 October 2010. On 28 October 2010 at
Bellator 34, Alexander Shlemenko faced
Hector Lombard. Lombard controlled nearly the whole fight, landing elusive striking combinations and heavy elbows from Shlemenko's guard. Despite taking a lot of damage that would've finished most opponents, Shlemenko actively fought back and even won the 5th round on the judges scorecards with a few well placed knees, some spinning backfists and stuffing takedown attempts. This was due to Hector Lombard relying mostly on takedowns to win the rounds after Shlemenko figured out his timing on the feet.
Season Five Middleweight tournament In the opening round of the Bellator Season Five Middleweight Tournament, Shlemenko fought
Zelg Galesic, a
Croatian mixed martial artist with a
Tae Kwon Do background. This fight was anticipated as an interesting striking match between two experienced stand-up fighters. Despite these expectations, Alexander won via standing guillotine choke in the first round, proving his rarely seen submission skills. In the semifinal round, Shlemenko faced
Brian Rogers, an American fighter noted for many first round stoppages due to striking. Rogers came out aggressively in the first round, landing striking combinations. After a lost first round, Shlemenko started to dictate the pace of the fight early in the second round. A landed backfist, followed by heavy knee strikes to the head brought Rogers in trouble in the first half of the round. After both fighters exchanged some punches, Alexander managed to land another unanswered series of heavy knees to the head of Rogers, which forced the referee to stop the fight at 2:31 of the second round. After the fight Alexander stated in his blog, that he was rather nervous during the fight, and that he saw Brian Rogers as a very athletic and explosive opponent. In the tournament finals, Shlemenko faced
Vitor Vianna, a two-time world
BJJ-champion. Nearly the whole fight Alexander dominated in stand-up punching exchanges, which brought him a win by unanimous decision. This win earned Shlemenko a rematch for the title against
Hector Lombard. However, Lombard signed with the
Ultimate Fighting Championship and the Bellator Middleweight Championship was vacated as a result.
Middleweight championship On 25 April 2012, Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney announced that the winner of the Season Six Middleweight Tournament Finale
Maiquel Falcão would face Shlemenko to crown the company's new Middleweight Champion. The two men met at
Bellator 88 on 7 February 2013 for the vacant title. Shlemenko won via knock out in the second round. Shlemenko was expected to face Bellator Season Eight Middleweight Tournament winner
Doug Marshall on 7 September 2013 at
Bellator 98. However, on 19 August, Marshall was forced out of the title bout due to an injury and was replaced by Season 8 Middleweight Tournament runner up
Brett Cooper. In the rematch Shlemenko defeated Cooper via unanimous decision to retain the Bellator Middleweight Championship. The title fight with
Doug Marshall eventually took place on 22 November 2013 at
Bellator 109. Shlemenko won the fight via knockout in the first round with a body punch, successfully defending his title for the second time. Shlemenko faced
Bellator Season Nine Middleweight Tournament winner
Brennan Ward at Bellator 114 on 28 March 2014. He won via guillotine choke submission in the second round to retain the Bellator Middleweight Championship. In order to appear on the inaugural Bellator
pay-per-view, Shlemenko moved up in weight to face
Tito Ortiz in his Bellator MMA debut on 17 May 2014 at
Bellator 120. He lost by submission via arm-triangle choke in the first round. Shlemenko put up his Middleweight title against undefeated
Brandon Halsey on 26 September 2014 at
Bellator 126. He lost the fight and the title by submission at just thirty-five seconds into the first round.
Fight Nights Global (EFN) After his loss to
Tito Ortiz, Shlemenko was expected to face Yasubey Enomoto at Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 16 on 11 July 2014. However, the bout was cancelled for unknown reasons. The fight eventually took place on 20 December 2014 at Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 18. Shlemenko won by unanimous decision.
M-1 Global Shlemenko faced former M-1 Global middleweight Champion
Vyacheslav Vasilevsky on 19 February 2016 at M-1 Challenge 64. He won the fight via split decision. Shlemenko returned to M-1 four months later to face Vyacheslav Vasilevsky in a rematch on 16 June 2016 at M-1 Challenge 64. Despite being battered by Vasilevsky in the first two rounds, Shlemenko rallied and won the fight via guillotine choke in the third round.
Return to Bellator Shlemenko faced fellow knockout artist
Melvin Manhoef in the main event at
Bellator 133 on 13 February 2015. He won the bout by knockout due to a spinning back fist in the second round. On 17 March 2015, Shlemenko was suspended indefinitely for failing a post fight drug test with elevated testosterone levels. The result was changed to a No Contest. In June 2015, the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) suspended Shlemenko for an unprecedented three years with a $10,000 fine. In September 2015, Shlemenko filed a
writ against the CSAC to have his three-year suspension overturned. In July 2016, Shlemenko won his appeal and his suspension was lifted and his fine lowered 50%. In his first fight in Bellator post-suspension, Shlemenko faced
Kendall Grove in the main event at
Bellator 162 on 21 October 2016. After a back-and-forth first round, Shlemenko won the bout in the second round due to a liver shot and right hook combination followed by strikes on the ground. Shlemenko faced newly signed middleweight
Gegard Mousasi at
Bellator 185 on 20 October 2017. Shlemenko still lost the back-and-forth fight by controversial unanimous decision. Seven out of eleven MMA media outlets scored the fight as a decision win for Shlemenko. Shlemenko faced
Anatoly Tokov on 13 October 2018 at
Bellator 208. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.
Free agent After the stint in Bellator, Shlemenko faced Jonas Billstein at his native Russian Cagefighting Championship 5 on 15 December 2018. He won the fight via submission in the second round. Next Shlemenko faced
Viscardi Andrade at Russian Cagefighting Championship 6 on 4 May 2019. He won the fight via technical knockout in the third round. Shlemenko faced
Chris Honeycutt at Eastern Economic Forum: Roscongress Vladivostok Combat Night on 15 September 2019. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Shlemenko fought
David Branch at Russian Cagefighting Championship 7 on 14 December 2019. He won via a guillotine choke submission in the first round. Shlemenko faced Márcio Santos on 7 May 2021 at
AMC Fight Nights 101. He won the bout via unanimous decision. On 17 October 2021, Alexander Shlemenko met with Artur Guseinov in the main fight of the EFC 42 tournament. The fight lasted all three rounds and ended with Shlemenko's victory by unanimous decision. On 3 March 2022, Shlemenko supported the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Shlemenko faced Aleksandar Ilić on 26 August 2022 at RCC 12. He lost the bout via TKO stoppage 22 seconds into the bout, after getting caught by a knee and dropped. Shlemenko faced Cleber Sousa on 30 September 2022 at Shlemenko FC 5. He fought to a split decision draw. Shlemenko faced Magomed Ismailov on 3 December 2022 at RCC 13, losing the bout via unanimous decision. Shlemenko faced
Alex Oliveira on 21 July 2023 at Shlemenko FC 8, submitting him in the first round via guillotine choke. Shlemenko rematched Aleksandar Ilić on 15 December 2023 at RCC 17, avenging his previous loss by TKO stoppage at the end of the first round. Shlemenko faced Kazkah prospect Kuat Khamitov at RCC 19 on 11 May 2024. He won the fight via unanimous decision. The following month Shlemenko fought UFC veteran
Curtis Millender at Shlemenko FC 10 on 1 June 2024. He won the fight via technical knockout in the first round. ==Fighting style==