Adriano Moraes Says Any Fighter Whose Name Ends With ‘OV’ Will BeDifficult

In an interview with MMA Junkie, ONE Championship flyweight Adriano Moraes (14-2) spoke about his ONE Championship 45 opponent Tilek Batyrov (10-1). He was originally set to fight Andrew Leone in an interim title fight but it was cancelled. The event happens on Saturday at Cotai Arena at The Venetian Macao. Here are highlights:

On the last minute change: “We promoted that fight. I had been looking forward to facing him in our organization. But he ended up with a back injury, so he was removed from our fight last week, being replaced by Tilek Batyrov.”

On the difficulty of his opponent: “He’s from south of Russia. Any athlete whose name ends with ‘ov’ will be a very difficult opponent. I don’t have much time to strategize, but I was already well prepared. He’s got good submissions and heavy hands. He’s dropping down to flyweight for the first time. But I remain positive.”

On recovering from recent losses: “I was great to get back on the path to victory. I’m looking forward to going on another win streak. It’s a great feeling. It’s by persevering that we manage to prosper in life.”