Sweden
Nermin Hajdarpasic accuses opponent of doping, slams OKTAGON MMA commentator for ‘talking shit’
Nermin Hajdarpasic. Photo: Stefan Romare / Frontkick.online
Swedish MMA fighter Nermin Hajdarpasic is set for his OKTAGON MMA return as he will face Robin Fosum in a catchweight bout at OKTAGON 41 in Liberec, Czech Republic on April 15th.
Hajdarpasic fell short in his promotional debut last October, and speaking exclusively to Frontkick, the heavy-hitting Västerås Fight Club standout is eager to step into the cage once again to prove that he’s better than what he showed last time around.
“It feels great to be back,” Hajdarpasic says. “I wanted a long time for this fight, too long time. I waited longer for this fight than my retirement.
“My opponent is sponsored by anabola.com, but I feel I have very good chances of winning. This is a much easier challenge than last time. He’ll try and knock me out, but I can make him tired.”
Nermin Hajdarpasic: “I shit my pants last time, to be honest”
The “retirement” Hajdarpasic is referring to was a short break from competition last year, the reason being that the former Swedish boxing champion – who’s working three jobs to support his family – felt that the juice wasn’t really worth the squeeze in MMA.
However, as rising European promotion OKTAGON MMA offered him a good deal, Hajdarpasic said yes right away and returned to competition a few months later at OKTAGON 36 in Frankfurt. He was then pitted against Germany’s Alexander Poppeck – a former Dana White’s Contender Series fighter who came in with about four times more professional bouts on his record compared to Hajdarpasic.
“I want a standup striking rematch with Alexander Poppeck next. (…) He calls himself a striker and he used to throw down before. Now, he just want to take it to the ground every time he fights.”
– Nermin Hajdarpasic
Unfortunately for the outspoken Swede, he got finished by the much more experienced opponent by TKO in the first round. The pressure of fighting in a sold-out stadium with thousands of German fans rooting against him was too much handle and looking back, Hajdarpasic feels he lost the bout before even stepping into the cage.
“I shit my pants last time, to be honest,” Hajdarpasic admits. “Not because of the fake viking Poppeck, but I had never fought on such a big show in front on a huge crowd like that and I got very nervous. This time, I know what to expect. And maybe the Czech fans are nicer than the Germans.”
How do you feel about fighting for OKTAGON MMA a second time?
“OKTAGON is starting to become a world-class promotion. They’re putting on huge events and selling out arenas all the time. I’m happy to be fighting on their show, but their commentator is so annoying. He talks shit about the fighters all the time, he picks his favorites and he’s so damn bias. I don’t know his name but you can hear it on every show how he talks down on the fighters. He’s not neutral. Other than that, it’s a great organization and I’m looking forward to put on a show for them on April 15th.”
“Best case scenario: I go in, I connect big, I knock him out and I go and party”
Nermin Hajdarpasic is now coming into OKTAGON 41 with a 4-1 professional record. Before his loss to Alexander Poppeck, he was riding a four-fight unbeaten streak on home turf in Swedish promotion Fight Club Rush, including wins against multiple-time IMMAF champion Irman Smajic as well as two wins against Fatih Aktas.
His Slovakian opponent Robin Fosum has a 2-1 pro record. He’s coming off back-to-back wins against Melvin Mane and Abdoul Sow in OKTAGON MMA and in Hajdarpasic’s mind, this matchup is more fair than the Poppeck since Hajdarpasic and Fosum has a more similar level of MMA experience.
“This is a good matchup. It’s a fair matchup. Best case scenario: I go in, I connect big, I knock him out and I go and party,” Hajdarpasic says with a laugh.
Before wrapping up the interview, Hajdarpasic makes sure to let us know what’s topping his wish-list next:
“If I win against Robin Fosum, I want a standup striking rematch with Alexander Poppeck next. He’s become a pussy who just want to wrestle. He calls himself a striker and he used to throw down before. Now, he just want to take it to the ground every time he fights.”
View this post on Instagram
Read more: Hasbulla mysteriously appears in local Swedish newspapers
Subscribe to Frontkick.online on YouTube for the best MMA and Muay Thai videos in Scandinavia, and make sure to follow us on Instagram for the latest news and updates!
