- Joined
- May 14, 2017
- Messages
- 3,634
- Reaction score
- 6,535
SOV = Strength of Victory
On his next fight and what he thinks of opponent Paul Craig:
What he can do well? A triangle from the guard. He does it very, very well and is very tricky in this position. When he's with his back on the ground he's very dangerous, if you want to punch him
and engage, you know? He's very experienced too. On the feet he likes to throw punches and to kick with everything that he's got. Like, very mad every time that he fights, he throws everything
with emotions. I think he's a great opponent, as he's not in a good phase right now coming from a loss. A game opponent, but I don't think he's on my level in the striking and I think our level
matches on the ground. But when it comes to striking and defense work, I don't think he's even close to my level.
I'm gonna knock Paul Craig out, this is the karma from my training camp. We have mentioned that all camp, you know? There's a group on What's App, and the name of that for my entire team
is "We're gonna knock Paul Craig out". Because this is something that I want that much. And it's bad for him as the only time he went to decision he lost and I'm the decision king! So in every
sense it looks bad for him, but this time I want a finish. Actually, the guys that I have been facing, you can see on their records and everything, they're all tough guys. You know, I'm not like those
prospects that the UFC is like "taking care of" with these terms and putting some dead bodies in front of me to kill. Since my first fight in the UFC it's only been real competition, and now I'm happy
with that cause I've been preparing that much so I feel that when my first KO comes then it's not gonna stop, you know? So the first knock out will come May 4th against Paul Craig.
On the MW division overall and his place in it going forth:
It's one of the hardest divisions, it's just like the lightweight division. Very hard and with a lot of tough guys just outside of the rankings. A few names that maybe doesn't deserve to be in the rankings,
but I think the division as a whole is going really well. With Dricus winning the belt it makes a little bit of mixing, although Sean Strickland may be getting the rematch now, but it makes some moves
in the division, you know? And I think after I knock Craig out maybe it's time to get one of these really good contenders, and I'm not calling out anyone now, but maybe Imavov, Brendan Allen, Paulo
Costa. They are in front of me in the rankings and I think they're going to get matched with me.
The one to give me the most problems? Oh man, I think Chimaev. We are friends actually as I came to Sweden to train with him, and went to Vegas for his UFC 279 training camp. I think he and
Strickland are the most hard guys to train with, you know? I've trained with both and spent a lot of time with them, and I think for the hardest fight in the division it's gonna be both of these guys. So to
fight these guys, I would need like a perfect strategy, you know? It's not gonna be a fight where I can afford to make some mistakes and still manage to win. Like, these guys are on another level so
I'd think they would be the two hardest fights for me in this division.
On his next fight and what he thinks of opponent Paul Craig:
What he can do well? A triangle from the guard. He does it very, very well and is very tricky in this position. When he's with his back on the ground he's very dangerous, if you want to punch him
and engage, you know? He's very experienced too. On the feet he likes to throw punches and to kick with everything that he's got. Like, very mad every time that he fights, he throws everything
with emotions. I think he's a great opponent, as he's not in a good phase right now coming from a loss. A game opponent, but I don't think he's on my level in the striking and I think our level
matches on the ground. But when it comes to striking and defense work, I don't think he's even close to my level.
I'm gonna knock Paul Craig out, this is the karma from my training camp. We have mentioned that all camp, you know? There's a group on What's App, and the name of that for my entire team
is "We're gonna knock Paul Craig out". Because this is something that I want that much. And it's bad for him as the only time he went to decision he lost and I'm the decision king! So in every
sense it looks bad for him, but this time I want a finish. Actually, the guys that I have been facing, you can see on their records and everything, they're all tough guys. You know, I'm not like those
prospects that the UFC is like "taking care of" with these terms and putting some dead bodies in front of me to kill. Since my first fight in the UFC it's only been real competition, and now I'm happy
with that cause I've been preparing that much so I feel that when my first KO comes then it's not gonna stop, you know? So the first knock out will come May 4th against Paul Craig.
On the MW division overall and his place in it going forth:
It's one of the hardest divisions, it's just like the lightweight division. Very hard and with a lot of tough guys just outside of the rankings. A few names that maybe doesn't deserve to be in the rankings,
but I think the division as a whole is going really well. With Dricus winning the belt it makes a little bit of mixing, although Sean Strickland may be getting the rematch now, but it makes some moves
in the division, you know? And I think after I knock Craig out maybe it's time to get one of these really good contenders, and I'm not calling out anyone now, but maybe Imavov, Brendan Allen, Paulo
Costa. They are in front of me in the rankings and I think they're going to get matched with me.
The one to give me the most problems? Oh man, I think Chimaev. We are friends actually as I came to Sweden to train with him, and went to Vegas for his UFC 279 training camp. I think he and
Strickland are the most hard guys to train with, you know? I've trained with both and spent a lot of time with them, and I think for the hardest fight in the division it's gonna be both of these guys. So to
fight these guys, I would need like a perfect strategy, you know? It's not gonna be a fight where I can afford to make some mistakes and still manage to win. Like, these guys are on another level so
I'd think they would be the two hardest fights for me in this division.
