Salt Lake City, UT — Undefeated heavyweight Alexander Romanov (16-0) will be hunting for his sixth win inside the octagon at UFC 278 this Saturday.
His latest opponent is Polish veteran Marcin Tybura, who Romanov said during Wednesday’s media day was “the biggest challenge” in his career to date.
With so much success early in his UFC career, Romanov is definitely thinking about the championship.
“Yes for sure, I am coming here for the title. I think the guys who don’t think about the title, they have no future in this division,” he told media outlets including Cageside Press. “I am a professional. I need to win more. Three, four fights, and I can try to make a title shot.”
For the first time on Saturday, Romanov will be fighting outside of the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. UFC 278 comes not only with fans in Salt Lake City, but a larger octagon. Moldova’s Romanov doesn’t feel that will be a significant factor, however.
“It’s much more important how you fuel your mind, how you fuel your body,” he stated. “I’m ready.”
Just as with a title shot, Romanov believes he needs some time before breaking into the top 5, even with a potential win over Tybura. “I think I need three, four fights. I need to be ready for this,” he said. He is glad to get the fight with Tybura back, however, after being matched up with the Polish heavyweight a couple of years ago.
“Yes, I think that this is a very good moment, because I don’t like when I have [unanswered] questions with somebody,” Romanov revealed. “If I win this fight, I want to fight with Jairzinho Rozenstruik. Because a couple years ago we needed to have a fight, but that fight was cancelled.”
Watch the full UFC 278 media day scrum with Alexander Romanov above.
