Former Bellator MMA interim heavyweight champion Valentin Moldavsky returns to action at Bellator 292 in a rematch with Linton Vassell.
With a win, he believes he’ll be fighting Ryan Bader for the title next.
“That’s the only thing that makes sense, right? Number one fights number two,” Moldavsky (11-2, 1NC) said during this week’s Bellator 292 media day. Moldavsky is in fact ranked #1 in the weight class, with Vassell right behind him. “There’s nowhere to go but the title.”
Russia’s Moldavsky has fought Bader once already, coming up short against the heavyweight champ just over a year ago. Last month, his mentor, Fedor Emelianenko, was sent into retirement off a loss to “Darth” Bader.
Moldavsky, however, now has Vassell to focus on — and he’s not reading too much into the pair’s first fight, which saw the Russian win a decision in Vassell’s first heavyweight fight in years.
“I didn’t watch our first fight. That was four years ago, he’d just become a heavyweight so I think he was still getting kind of acclimated to the weight class,” noted Moldavsky. “But I did watch the Timothy Johnson fight and the Tyrell Fortune fight because now I could see how he moves as a heavyweight now that he’s used to it.”
With that in mind, Moldavsky is expecting to see Vassell with “a little more stamina” this Friday, and to “be a little more well-rounded at heavyweight. Our first fight, that was one of the things, he started to get tired. Now it seems he’s kind of gotten used to the weight and his stamina. I don’t think he’s gotten any faster, he was never really kind of much of a speed guy, but he is very crafty, and very, kind of like clingy, likes to tie you up. If he’s able to impose his game, it could be dangerous. I don’t expect him to be faster, but stronger yes, and have more cardio.”
Watch the full Bellator 292 media day appearance by Valentin Moldavsky above. The card takes place at the SAP Center in San Jose, CA on Friday, March 10, 2023.
