“When there was boxing or kickboxing, guys had problems” – UFC fighter Kopylov about training camp with Artem Vakhitov in Makhachkala

Russian UFC fighter Roman Kopylov spoke in an interview with about training with kickboxing world champion Artem Vakhitov in Dagestan.

Professional kickboxer Vakhitov announced his transition to MMA in 2023; he had three fights in mixed martial arts and won two. In May of this year, Vakhitov and a professional fighter from the Kemerovo region, Roman Kopylov, held a training camp in Makhachkala at the Rasul Magomedaliev gym. Kopylov, who competes in the UFC, together with Vakhitov prepared for the fight at the UFC 302 tournament against Cesar Almeida.

— This time, the world champion in kickboxing from Kemerovo Artem Vakhitov, who switched to MMA, accompanied you to the training camp in Dagestan. Was it difficult for him?

— When it came to wrestling or working in positions, then yes, he had difficulties. I think he will confirm that. But when it came to just boxing or kickboxing, other guys had problems. So far, I have not been stronger than him in terms of position. In such moments, I tried to fight him myself.

— Did you translate it to avoid being missed?

– Often. When there were sparring sessions on Fridays with small MMA gloves, I translated very often and tried to hold on. He said: “Artem, get up. I still don’t know how to fight. It will be even harder, there are other guys there, they fight better. And he tried to get up. But especially in kickboxing, it’s very difficult with him. And the speed, and the pressure, and the blows, and the force of the blows. I also thought that he weighed about 92 kilos, but it turns out that he has 97 or something like that,” Kopylov told .

Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.

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