Sport express published a big interview with Zabit's coach Mansur Uchakaev who is currently with Zabit in US for his second training camp ahead go Yair Rodriguez fight. Once again the fight got cancelled. Now they are helping Bellator fighter Magomed Magomedov (the only man to win a split decision against Petr Yan) ahead of his fight.
- So, now you are focused on Magomedov?
- Yes. We suspended Zabit's preparation process due to the cancellation of his fight. He has a collarbone injury. He came here injured, he was going to get some medical treatment. We had just started the camp, the fight was canceled, and we decided to stop.
- For what date was the fight planned?
- End of January. We thought that everything had already been signed, we arrived, and then some issues arose that I can't talk about (the interview took place the day before USADA announced the decision on Rodriguez). Yair has some problems with the athletic commission, the fight was canceled.They wanted to postpone, but Zabit no longer wants to fight with him. How long can you wait? This is the fifth attempt.We have already said that we need either a candidate for replacement or a fight for the belt. Most likely, we will wait for a fight for the belt.
- You think Rodriguez has good excuse this time?
- He ducked. He doesn't want to fight, he has created artificial problems for himself. Now he cannot fight until March.
- What now? Korean Zombie came out and announced that he want to fight Zabit.
- The Korean Zombie has two losses in his last three fights. He is an easy opponent for Zabit, but they won't give Zabit a title shot for a win against KZ. They are also offering to make it a 3 round fight. If Zabit has a 3 round fight, then it's not longer a title contender fight. That means the fight for the belt will most likely be given to winner between Holloway and Kattar. We'll go home and think, there is still a lot of time until March.
- So Zabit's fight will take place earliest in March?
- Yes, everything has moved to March. We came to fight, but in America there is a difficult epidemiological situation. UFC PI most likely will be shut down during quarantine. So we decided there was no point in staying here.
- Why didn't you accept the fight to get practice in? Zabit's been inactive for a year, now it will be a year and a half.
- If there was a title contender fight, we would have taken it no questions asked. UFC promised Zabit that they would give him a fight for the belt, more than once. I do not participate in these negotiations, but I know that they promised him that if Yair fight doesn't happen, they will give a fight for the belt. In theory, no one but Zabit was left as title contender. All of the top 5 have either lost their last fights or recently fought for the belt.
- How does Zabit deal with this situation?
- He got upset. He lost a whole month ... He was prepared to make a run for the belt, and for the fifth time the fight fell through.
- We haven't seen Zabit in action for a year. What parts of the game has he improved?
- He trained, kept fit. His boxing has improved. He had serious health problems, but we came here and accepted the fight. He dislocated his shoulder, his collarbone was loose. In the UFC PI, he was treated with therapy, massages. He practically could not work. Despite this, he came and accepted the fight, began to prepare. Because of this, when the fight fell through, he was very angry. Training camps like these takes a lot of money. Moreover, now everywhere you have to be tested Covid and tickets are expensive are expensive as well.
- Where did Zabit get such a ground game? He comes from Wushu Sanda.
- Zabit has an excellent striking because he studied at one of the best wushu sanda schools, Five Points of the World
(Link to my thread about this school). He got all his striking skills there. And everything related to wrestling and grappling is from our gym (DagFighter). I trained his wrestling - Magomed Saadulaev, my old student, trained his grappling. In America Zabit has been "polished" as a fighter, added a couple of subtle nuances.
- Does the Zabit drop people with his hands during sparring?
- He can drop people, but he controls himself during sparring. Before, when he fought in ACB, he knocked down a lot of guys. Now he has become calmer and more calculated.
- Is this good or bad? Some say that you must punch with all your power, because opponent will not spare you in a fight.
- Zabit works with power, there are just random knockouts, and there are purposeful ones. When you know that you can drop your opponent, Zabit know this. Moreover, in America people will not train with you if you drop everyone. At home we have tough sparring sessions, and the opponents in Dagestan are stronger than in the USA.
- Are sparring partners in Dagestan better than in the States?
- Much better. Here in the USA, they have a professional approach, but in Dagestan, the guys are better.
- The most common question about Zabit is about his gastank.
- Zabit has no endurance problems at all, only health problems. Nobody spoke about this and most people don't know. He has a diaphragm spasm and cannot breathe fully. He just got the test results, so nobody knew before. We recently found out this. If you haven't noticed, then Zabit never breathes deeply, no matter how tired he is. He doesn't have deep breathing. He has a spasm in some muscles, but this is being dealt with. It can be cured with massage and some therapy sessions. Because of these spasms, Zabit was tired. Now it's solved and he is doing well in this regard. He looks great in sparring, he runs, fights, does everything for hours and does not get tired. So these are the problems that I hope are fixed.
- In a recent interview you mentioned that Zabit is not very interested in fighting.
- Yes, training camp is not easy. Only athletes understand what we have to go through. You have a family, children, and you leave for America and sit here for three and a half months.
While you sit here all this time you get depressed. Even though I am not overworked, I usually want to leave this place a week. The fighters go through such difficulties, they prepare for months. Then, for some unknown reason, the fight gets canceled, and this happens several times in a row. Of course will be demotivated by this. You get very tired of this.
Young guys then simply do not want to come here, because of depression. In the case of Zabit this has been going on for a year, and before there were such issues as well. Motivation is slowly fading away, but I think he needs one or two fights and everything will return to normal.
- Zabit's not an old fighter, he's only 29 years old.
- But he has been training since he was six years old. At the age of 16, he already fought in adult competitions. He's a little tired I guess. Such periods happen in everyone's life, but they pass.
- Did he ever come to you and say: “Mansur, I don't want to fight anymore”?
- It happens not only to him, it happens to everyone. All the guys from Dagestan are Muslims, our religion does not welcome fighting. Therefore, they often think about leaving.
- Many people left fighting because of religion?
- Many.
- It seems to me that you yourself periodically think leaving as well.
- Yes, this fight business is not a good thing. It's not good to beat people. For people, fighting is entertainment, but they do not see what is happening backstage. Broken noses, injuries, what happens to a fighter after a knockout ... People don't see the other side of the coin.
- According to the reviews of those who know Zabit, he is a nice guy, not a street fighter.
- Yes, he's very kind. If he sees that someone who wants to take photo he calls the person over. He's a very simple guy. But due to popularity, he also gets very exhausted. We came to Kazakhstan for a week - everyone recognised him there, everyone took pictures with him. It is exhausting. You need to be an energy monster like Khabib in order not to get tired of this.
- When Zabit came to you, did you immediately recognise a great fighter in him?
- Even before that. When he was young, my team competed at Wushu Sanda tournaments. I immediately noticed him there and told the students, "Convince him to come to us.". Magomed Magomedov is his relative, he visited me. I told him: "Bring me Zabit." Then Zabit came himself.
- He is very thin, even now, when he grew some muscle, you cannot say that this is a fighter.
- Yes, but when he starts fighting or sparring, then you see what's up. When he walks and talks - you get impression that he is weak, soft, frail. When sparring starts, you need to stop him.
- You said that it is uncomfortable for him to fight with tall guys. What is the reason for this?
- Well, Zabit himself spoke about this, but I wouldn't say that it is more difficult for him to fight with tall guys. It's just easier for him to fight the short ones. In wushu he often came across former wrestlers, Zabit got used to them.
- Is Volkanovski a convenient opponent for Zabit?
- Very comfortable. Yair Rodriguez was uncomfortable. How so? When they start to run away from Zabit, he begins to get angry and does not control himself. If you take down Rodriguez, he will not get up. We were going to take him down ... However, I will not reveal our game plan.
SMESH THAT LIKE BUTTON
