Russian heavyweight trainer Grigori Ponomarev Taras Kiyashko told about the process of the weight race ahead of the ASA Grand Prix quarter-finals, where the fighter will meet Muhumat Vakhaev .
The winner of this pair will advance to the semi-finals and face Kirill Kornilov in St. Petersburg. For Ponomarev, the fight with Vakhaev will be his ACA debut as a former AMC Fight Nights champion. In an interview with , Ponomarev said that his weight reached 152 kg, but later the heavyweight began to follow a stricter diet and easier to fit into the limit of the heavyweight category (up to 120kg).
There are about 42 hours left before the weigh-in. What is Grigory’s advantage now?
– There is an advantage, but one is almost in weight. It remains to remove a little less than five kilos.
– Vakhaev bumped into Ponomarev at the weigh-in, choked up at a press conference and said a few hard-hitting words. Do you think this can affect Ponomarev?
– All this certainly does not put pressure on Grisha. Absolutely not. Muhumat himself said he was promoting the fight, I see he is also worried, so I would say both are worried, and both are trying to hide it, Kiyashko told .
Ponomarev trained with Fedor Emelianenko’s team for a long time, but since the summer of 2022 he started training at the Strela gymnasium in Moscow.
Live broadcasts of the Mixed Martial Arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
