Nicholas Nico Musoke will face the Russian Alexander Yakovlev at UFC Fight Night in Stockholm. We had the chance to make a little interview with the Swede. Enjoy! Pictures from Daniel Schälander / mmaViking Booster: Hi Nico, first of all, hows your training camp going? Everything fine? Nico Musoke: Thanks, going real good. Getting closer and getting eager! Booster: You will be one of 6 Swedes on the fight card. How does ist feel to compete in your home country? Are you excited? Nico Musoke: Ask any one of us and you will hear that this is a special event. This is my home. I get to do what I love. Couldn’t be any better. Booster: Your opponent is the Russian Alexander Yakovlev. It will be the second fight for the Sambo fighter in the UFC, what do you know about him? Nico Musoke: He is well-rounded and comes with a lot of experience. Booster: As a Master of Sports in Sambo, Yakovlev is very dangerous on the ground. Do you try to avoid to grapple with him or are your ground skills good enough to stand up to him also on the ground? Nico Musoke: I don’t avoid anything. I know what I am capable of in all areas that are included within the rules. I do what is necessary to get the W. Booster: It will be your 4^th fight in the UFC, after to wins over Alessio Sakara and Viscardi Andrade you lost a unanimous decision to Kelvin Gastelum. What went wrong in this fight? Nico Musoke: In retrospect, I would have done many things different, for sure. I would have needed to adjust better as the fight progressed. However, Kelvin fought a great fight and I performed under my potential. I have lost and I have learned. Booster:MMA is a big thing in Sweden and in Scandinavia as a whole. Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Denmark have a few of the best grapplers in the world. What do you think, why are Martial Arts and especially grappling so popular there? Nico Musoke: I think it is a combination of many factors. One main thing is that we have trainers in all areas who are world class. We work hard and I like to believe that we do what is needed to keep excelling. To be honest though, I wouldn’t go so far as to say that martial arts is too popular in the area. It is growing, for sure, and MMA especially. However, in relation to other sports we are still in the backgrounds. Though, it is remarkable that relative to the population, the limited exposure and possibilities to live off of the sport(s), the area is able to produce the wide range of world class athletes both past and present. Things have gotten better and the latest trend is even better. What it comes down to is hard work I will have to conclude. Booster:Last question: we cant let you go without a prediction. How will the fight against Yakovlev end? Nico Musoke: I will win within the distance. By any means necessary. Booster: Thank you for the interview, we keep our fingers crossed for your fight! Nico Musoke: Thanks for the support and for covering. Thank you! (you can find the German translation at MMAblog.de)
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 16:24:50 +0000
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