Andrei Koreshkov and Magomed Umalatov may be from the same country, but this is no friendly sparring match.
Koreshkov and Umalatov will face off Friday night in the night’s marquee match of PFL 3 at Chicago’s Wintrust Arena. The Russian fighters will compete for points in the regular season standings at welterweight, and Koreshkov expects a fierce showdown inside the cage as a result.
“Even though we are both from Russia, I can say that there will be no compromise in this match, but that does not mean that we will sympathize with each other in the match,” Koreshkov said through an interpreter during an interview with PFL media. Wednesday’s event. “We’re going to fight just like we fight anyone else. So it’s going to be a very spectacular, very brutal, very exciting fight. So don’t blink.”
Koreshkov, a former Bellator MMA champion, has 31 professional fights to his credit. Meanwhile, the undefeated Umalatov is a highly touted talent and could be considered one of the favorites in the PFL welterweight division. However, Koreshkov does not believe his opponent has faced the same level of competition as he has throughout his MMA career.
“He’s good at standing, he’s good at wrestling, he’s good at ground fighting, he’s good everywhere,” Koreshkov said. “The only thing I can say is that the level of opponents he has played against so far has probably not been at the highest level, but he is still a very dangerous and good opponent. I also noticed that he does not feel tired. That means he has the right conditioning.”
Koreshkov, who comes into this matchup on a five-fight winning streak, has experience competing in Bellator’s tournament format. The PFL season is a completely different matter, and Koreshkov is already focusing on certain aspects of the new format.
“It’s like forcing you to try to finish your opponent as quickly as possible, because then in addition to the points you get for defeating your opponent, you also get extra points if ”
[finish him] In the first round,” Koreshkov said. “That’s why you obviously have to be very careful not to get injured, because if you get injured it obviously prevents you from doing the next thing.” [continuing to
fight] But at the same time, you need to be aggressive to take down your opponents and earn more points to advance.
“So I don’t think my Bellator experience, specifically my tournament experience, really helps here. But the fact that I used to brawl a lot and I’ve been doing it in stride… now So this experience obviously helps me here.”
Koreshkov has enjoyed success as a champion so far, but it is important for him to assert himself in his new journey in the PFL.
“Right now I’m involved in a new promotion. I’m in a higher comfort zone, if I may say so. Everything is new for me here,” he said. “And I want to make myself look good here. And that’s very important to me.”
