On April 28th at the UFC event in Las Vegas, Russian-Uzbek light heavyweight Bogdan Guskov will have his third fight in the octagon against top American Ryan Spann in the co-main event of the evening.
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In an exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net, Guskov shared:
- the dangers his opponent Ryan Spann poses;
- how Americans react to him coming out with the Russian flag;
- how his mother feels about his profession;
- why he chose "Yugoslav" as his nickname when working in a club;
- his sparring sessions with Ryan Smith;
- and how he witnessed the legendary victory of Russia over Spain in the stadium.
"I’m ready to take down Ryan Spann"
- How are you? Ready to take down Ryan Spann?
- Of course, I’m always ready. We're moving in that direction. God willing, everything will be fine.
- What particularities have you noticed about your opponent?
- He's a top-notch opponent, tall, I think physically strong with a good guillotine choke. He has good leverage due to his height. Basically, he has enough strengths.
- At the start of your UFC career, you got two out of three fights against top opponents. The first one didn't go well; are you better prepared mentally now?
- Absolutely. I only trained for two weeks for Volkan Oezdemir, so I can't say I was fully prepared for the fight, let alone for Oezdemir. But due to certain circumstances, I needed to compete. Now I have learned a lot, I have adapted to many things. I've been in America for quite a long time, so I feel good now.
- You are one of the few fighters who go into the octagon with the Russian flag. How do Americans react to it? What is the UFC’s attitude?
- It's fine, there are no questions or issues about it. You come to check-in. There's a procedure before fights during the fight week, and you say you'll be using certain attributes. They ask you some questions, you go out, and everything is okay. There are no hindrances.
Bet on MMA with 1xBet"Mom asks when I'll stop fighting"
- You studied to be a welder. Has this profession been useful in life?
- Once in the garage, we were assembling a bench with the guys, welding bars, but not for a living.
- At first, your mother was against your martial arts training. How does she feel about your profession now?
Now she's calmer, but she still doesn't watch the fights. She is a bit scared and she keeps asking: 'When will you finish? That’s enough'. But she has already accepted it and is more tolerant, she treats it like a profession. For my part, I tried to tell her that this is my way of life. I have to go through this part of my life, and then I'll do something safer.
- How many more years do you expect to compete in combat sports?
- It depends, but my plan is probably another 5-6 years until I'm 35-36, if everything goes well. If I start giving in, getting weaker - then, of course, I won't be stubborn, I'll quit.
"Prochazka consciously risks his health"
- What do you think about Jiri Prochazka's style, with heavy striking in every fight? Won't this affect his health?
- If he is comfortable working in that style and getting bonuses in every fight, then it's okay. It's quite a serious risk, but financially justified. Many people think that if you stand in a classic boxing stance, you don't take many hits. But you still take hard enough hits to ruin your health. Basically, one always loses health in our profession, whether in sparring or in wrestling. I think mentally fighters have already come to terms with it and understand that sometimes you need to be careful, other times you need to go all out. Jiri consciously takes such risks.
- You talked a lot about working in a nightclub. Why did you get the nickname "Yugoslav" there?
When you're in a club, and I worked at the face control, people always come, and for some reason, everyone is interested in your name. Absolutely everyone who's a bit tipsy wants to know your name. But you're not going to let them know your real name, so I went by “Yugoslav”. Besides, I like Serbia. I thought it was a cool name.
“I had a chance to spar with Anthony Smith"
- Did you talk with Anthony Smith in person?
- We met in the hotel after my victory. I posted our meeting on social media. We exchanged a few words, and after his victory, I challenged him to a fight. I don't know if he saw it, but we even had a chance to spar at Extreme Couture.
- And how was he in sparring?
- Pretty good. We moved well, threw some good punches. I don't think he showed anything extraordinary, and neither did I. It ended up being just a regular sparring session without anything exceptional.
- If the fight with Spann ends well and you get into the rankings, will the fight against Smith be feasible?
- It’s quite possible. I would be interested in that fight because fans often say that we are similar. They would find it interesting to watch. If the UFC management decides that this fight is indeed interesting and organizes it, our side is all in.
- Many considered Alex Pereira a champion for a day, and he is having successful defenses. Does a striker have any chance against him, or only a wrestler can defeat him?
- We saw a striker against a striker with Israel Adesanya. For every striker, there is a counter-striker. Secondly, I would be very interested in watching his fight against a wrestler. There is a good wrestler, Magomed Ankalaev, and it would be very interesting to see Pereira fight him.
"When Russia beat Spain, the whole stadium went crazy"
- You have a photo from the stands at the World Cup, which took place in Russia. Which matches did you attend and what memories do you have of it?
- Russia vs Spain. The most memorable match of the tournament. We won then, and the whole stadium went crazy. I was very pumped at that time. I don't remember the other matches I attended, but when Russia beat Spain on penalties - it was fantastic. For me, it was basically one of my first football experiences, and it was amazing to be at such an arena and witness such a game. Fantastic.
- Who do you support in football?
- Since 2000, I’ve supported Real Madrid in the world arena, and in Russia I’m rooting for Spartakl. I don't follow football very closely, but if I come across a big match like Real Madrid vs Barcelona, then I support Real Madrid. I’m a casual fan, but I don't know football that well.
- What do you think is more impressive - to train a UFC fighter or many world and European champions?
- These things can’t be compared because both involve immense effort. If a coach trained a world champion or worked with a UFC fighter, it's a huge achievement for them. It's enormous work. I also train young fighters, I'm involved in this process, and I know how hard it is. Training a European or world champion is a tremendous amount of work and coaching labor. A UFC fighter is the same because the competition is very high there. You have to train them correctly for the fight, mentally prepare them, build the training process correctly to avoid injuries.
- Is it possible to balance coaching work with a fighter's career? Doesn't one interfere with the other?
- I don't depend solely on coaching work for my income. I have some guys I enjoy working with, and sometimes we find time for that. During training nobody disturbs me, and I don't train with anyone. In my free time, I'm happy to help and provide guidance. There are several talented guys I help as much as I can.
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