Ilkhom Nozimov stopped Rizin’s longest-tenured titleholder, lightweight king Roberto Satoshi De Souza, in thirteen seconds to wrest the RFF 155-pound belt from the division’s inaugural champion. Nozimov also previously mirrored Sean O’Malley’s stylistic tendencies during TMT training sessions prior to Yan’s fight with ‘Suga’.
Speaking about that huge month that saw several Tiger Muay Thai fighters capture meaningful titles in various MMA promotions, Nozimov said [via Bowks Talking Bouts],
“Petr Yan is also a tough guy. I spent the whole camp with him when he was preparing for Sean O’Malley. I was his main sparring partner for that fight and after sparring with him, after camp with him, every fight or sparring with anyone in my division, it was easy. Because Petr is someone who always makes things difficult for you.”
“I grew a lot and learned a lot from that camp and still use it, the knowledge from that camp. This is a man who has always put you in danger, who can always do you damage, and he is still evolving. Mentally he is now on a different level and that is why I am super, super happy for him. Because I knew he always deserves to be champion again.”
Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili 3 for UFC White House card? The latter explains why not
Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili are tied in their brackets at one win apiece, but the former champion explained why that reportedly won’t happen on any given summer card for the UFC. The June event at the White House is unlikely to see Yan and Dvalishvili in a rubber match, which was expressed by the latter during an interview with MMA Pros Choice.
‘The Machine’ seemed to put the kibosh on his tiebreaker bout with the Russian champion near the Oval Office, as Dvalishvili said:
“UFC told me that our fight will not take place in the White House on Trump’s birthday in June because he is Russian, and that is impossible.”
#Petr #Yan #evolving #teammate #regaining #UFC #gold