On April 21st in Rimini at ACB 85 Magomed Raisov will face Joilton Santos. Magomed has spoken about his upcoming bout:
Magomed, once again you will face an opponent who is much more experienced than you. Tell us how are you planning to neutralise that disadvantage?
-I’ve never faced an opponent who had less fights than me. My opponents always have an advantage in the experience and they’re always higher in the rankings than me but I’m not picking my opponents. I’m taking any fights ACB offer me. If they’re offering multiple options, I pick the one that’s best for me. I pick the fight that will move me the most in rankings and that will give me the best experience.
And I don’t need to neutralize the experience disadvantage. I’m always in the good shape, I’m smart about my preparation, weight cuts and the fights. I just go there and fight. The fact that my opponents have more fights than me means nothing. I’m not a debutant, I know what’s going on in the cage, I’m comfortable there and I know what to do.
You’ve been signed to ACBs’ main league after your last fight. Give us your plan for the next year, what are your ambitions in the lightweight division?
- I think I’ll need to abandon the lightweight division. It’s not 100 per sent yet but most likely it will happen. I’m getting heavier from fight to fight. I’m still young, so I’m sure I’ll grow bigger. Sooner or later I’ll be forced to move up the weight class. So I’m not really focusing on the lightweight division, I’m focused only on my next fight.
But if I want to have a long career, I need to move up to the welterweight division and focus more on my fights, rather than the weight cuts.
Your brother and many other fighters from “Berkut” are scheduled to fight soon. What kind of atmosphere is there in camp?
- The process of preparation is really intense. There’s a lot of sparring partners. Me and Yusuf had an opportunity to have a training camp somewhere else but we decided to stay in Berkut because there’s a lot of fighters getting ready for their upcoming fights. Everyone isin the great shape and training there is really productive.
Most of the people in our gym are now focused on the champions who’re scheduled to fight at ACB 86, we’re trying to give them the best training experience and at the same time trying to keep them healthy and away from injuries.
