#6 ranked lightweight Andrey Koshkin returns to action at ACB 93 in Krasnodar. He'll face Yusup Umarov. Andrey has spoken about this upcoming bout.
- Your opponent has a serious knockout power, give us your thoughts on how you're planning to deal with that?
Yes, he has a lot of KO victories, he's a heavy hitter. But no worries, I'm going to do my work in preparation, I'll study him. I'll focus more on my defense: blocks and parries. I'll make sure I don't get hit that much. Of course it's a fight, so I'll take some punches here and there.
- How is your preparation going?
I'm feeling great. I had some rest after my last fight but it wasn't too long and now I'm deep into my preparation. The first part of my training camp I worked on my strength and conditioning, also my wrestling and some striking. Now I'm sparring a lot, studying tape, working on some specific things. The final part of my training camp will be the same. Then the weight cut and the fight itself.
- You're fighting a guy, who's not ranked in the top 10, what's your take on that?
I don't care about it. ACB offered me a fight, and I accepted it. Yusup is not in the top 10, but he's a good fighter. Yes, if I lose, I'll take two steps back but I'm coming there to win. I'm working hard, I'm getting better to win. The risk is a part of our sport. If you're not willing to take risks, and the main focus for you is your record - you won't get any fights. I think that you should always move forward and accept any challenge.
- Do you have and prediction for the fight?
I feel confident after my last fight. It was a good performance. The preparation, thanks God, is going great. So of course I want to dominate him both on the feet and on the ground. But it's a fight, so anything can happen. I'm going to do everything in my power, to show a dominant performance and get the victory.
