- Joined
- May 14, 2017
- Messages
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I know that now you're staying in Dubai, not having to deal with all this cold here, how does it feel to be back in Sweden?
Always nice going back to home, Stockholm will always be my home. I started here so I always go back and forth. I live there in Dubai,
but I always want to come here and train, and do the things I did before.
What can you tell me about the training in Dubai, what's it like there? What kind of training partners are you going with?
A lot of different sparring partners, coming and going. You know from England, and from around the world. The place is like new for everyone
so everyone wants to be there. A lot of Russian fighters as well, so it's always good sparring.
We're here now for FCR 19, and you had some of your very first fights in FCR both as an amateur and pro. When you had your fight with Khaled Laallam,
it was very basic with little kids playing around and now look. FCR has come to, like, Quality Hotel Friends. It's a huge change, you saw it from the beginning and now
it's becoming something big, what's it like to see from the outside?
It's nice. You know, I grew up in this organization and showed for the first time who I am here. So it's nice to see. I am growing, the organization
where I started is growing as well. So it's good for me and good for the organization, so happy. Happy for the guys.
Let's check out some of the fights where some of your teammates are competing. Zelim Zubairaev against the finnish boxer Mika Kallio. How do you look at that fight?
Actually, Zelim is like, starting to surprise us now in the trainings as well. He's become stronger and stronger, lifting the weights. A good physical, stronger
guy now. And before he's been having good striking, background in taekwon-do. And we work on the grappling as well, so he looks good now. It should be an
easy fight for him.
And Baissangour Makaev is really becoming a star on the Swedish scene. Getting more and more momentum and wins. Facing Erik Wahrolen who is a really good grappler,
and they have trained together a bit before. How do you look at that fight, a little bit strange that it's former training partners?
Yeah, but it's still sports, you know. A lot of guys, like me and Naib [Ilaldayev/Itaev] sitting here, we were competing in wrestling as well before. We're always being
friends, you know, always been brothers and in sports you'll always meet guys you know as well. And it's nothing strange with that. I think both want to fight and have
a nice day. Or how you should say it, for fighters to compete is a good day. To learn something, win or loss it's always a win so. But Baissangour has been training so
hard now, he's had good pictures in looking at Guram and almost has Guram's style in the striking, trying to be like him. Some wrestling skills he has taken from me
as well. He's good and has a good future, he's gotta keep training like he's doing now and he's gonna be a big star.
Obviously nothing is sure right now, but everyone wants to see you back in the cage. In a perfect world, when do you think you'll be back in the cage?
In the summer. I think I'll be back in the summer as I want to fight in Saudi Arabia, but, so I don't think anyone wants to fight me there. So we'll see what's gonna happen,
just waiting for... something. And they wanted me at UFC 300 but I said it's a bit too short of time getting down to 77 kg [170 lbs], so I'll need a bit of time for that.
So that's true they asked you to fight Leon Edwards?
*Sigh* It wasn't a 100% sure, but they talked. My manager said maybe. My brother said to me, like, not in Ramadan. So after that I'll take the time for a camp and can fight anyone.
