Shirzad Qadrian talks winning PrizeFighter and training with Khabib: “A legend”

Shirzad Qadrian. Photo via Instagram

Shirzad “The Lion” Qadrian is one of the hottest bantamweights in Europe at the moment.

Winning the Cage Warriors PrizeFighter on July 20, meant that he got a lot of attention and momentum to bring into his next fight. Talking to Frontkick, “The Lion” reflects on the tournament.

“That was crazy! It was so nice, really amazing,” Qadrian says. “It was crazy. I’m born crazy and it has been one of my dreams to fight twice in one night. I always want to make history.”

In the finals he faced Swedish powerhouse Alexander Lööf, who was one of the favorites to win the tournament.

“Alexander Lööf is a very good fighter. I analysed all my opponents before the tournament and I knew Lööf has very heavy hands. I felt his power in the fight, but I took him down and controlled him. He could not do anything, I dominated him in the whole fight.”

What did you think about the split decision?

“I don’t know about the split decision. I controlled him. The bell saved him in the last ten seconds. If I had ten more seconds, I would have submitted him.”

So will you fight Liam Gittins for the title next? 

“Yes, Inshallah, we have talked about a title fight in November. I have to make him humble. I have to smash someone soon.”

“My mom taught me how to wrestle”

The Iranian-born prospect trains in England and is currently riding a four-fight winning streak. As a former Iranian wrestling champion, he is one of the most skilled wrestlers in the bantamweight division.

“I’m trying to get more comfortable with my striking. I train a lot of wrestling too, since I am a wrestler. I train both, but a lot of striking these days.”

How did you get into wrestling as a kid? 

“My mom was a wrestler and she taught me how to wrestle when I was about seven years old. When I was 11 or 12 I started to train in the gym.”

Shirzad Qadrian and Khabib Nurmagomedov. Photo via Instagram (@lion._.mma)

Shirzad Qadrian trained with Khabib Nurmagomedov

For his next fight, which quite possibly will be a Cage Warriors bantamweight title bout, he’s either looking to go to the world famous American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) or to Dagestan to once again train with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team.

“It was amazing to train with Khabib. The best experience of my life. I trained with Umar Nurmagomedov for his upcoming fight against Cory Sandhagen on Saturday. Khabib is an absolute legend for making strategies and gameplans. He’s the best.”

Will we ever see Khabib in your corner?

“Inshallah, I hope so in the future!”

• Cage Warriors champ Liam Gittins talks title defense, PrizeFighter and why he only fights in England
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