UFC
Andreas Michael on Felipe Lima’s UFC debut: ”This guy is world class!”
Andreas Michael (left) in Saudi Arabia. Photo via Instagram
Felipe Lima’s UFC debut was one for the books. Taking on a dangerous opponent on short notice, in a higher weight class, is a very hard task for any fighter. Lima lived up to the moment and eventually submitted Muhammad Naimov in the third round.
In an interview with Andres Viracca from Käftsmällspodden and Frontkick, Lima’s head coach Andreas Michal talks about the massive victory.
”It feels amazing, it feels absolutely amazing. We worked so hard for this, all these years,” Michaels says just hours after the fight. ”It’s a big win for Sweden, for all the young up-and-coming fighters in all the clubs. Everywhere. It’s a big win for Sweden. It’s a big win for us all. And absolutely a big win for Allstars as well. So, we’ve done this the whole day. Been away for four months. Missed my home. Missed the club. Appreciate everything that’s come to us. It wasn’t easy at all. But hard work and dedication. At the end of the day, it’s hard work and dedication.”
As a natural featherweight, Naimov was the bigger fighter, but the 26-year-old Allstars prospect proved to be the better man in Saudi Arabia.
”This guy is world class. They were like, they were telling us that we’re lucky to survive three rounds with him. We were brought here to lose. We were the underdogs in this fight. We destroyed some plans tonight.”
What’s next for Felipe?
”The first thing he does is that he’s got to correct some mistakes that he’s doing. We’ve got to fix a little bit of the striking, a little bit of the grappling, sharpen it up. And next, he’s going to fight at 135 lbs. This was 145 lbs. But the next thing is, I think when he fights at 135 lbs, he just, yeah, guys, he just beat like a really good opponent today.”
Andreas Michael and Felipe Lima. Photo via Instagram
Andreas Michael: ”He earned it the hard way”
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