When fighters get the call to head on to Dana White’s Contender Series, often they are surprised or at the very least relieved. The idea that their hard work to reach that milestone has a date is something that every regional fighter dreams of.
While he was, for sure, happy about the call, it was no surprise for Israel’s Eli Aronov. ‘The Israeli Tank’ battered Mariusz Ksiazkiewicz en route to a submission win last year at Unified MMA 45, and since then he’s known this was coming.
“We’ve been expecting it because Mick Maynard, matchmaker of the UFC, already knew my name because my last win was a big one,” Aronov explained. “I knew I was on the call list – it was just a matter of time. I tried to fight before to get more experience, but everything comes in His time and I think the best time is now.”
However, just because he knew it was coming did not mean that this journey was without it’s stress. With an imminent move to the big time on the horizon, Aronov made the move to Las Vegas in order to improve his training.
“I came to Vegas in January. Since then, I’ve been here in Vegas… I’ve been here the whole time training,” he said. “I think home is my power. I love my country and, of course, I love my family and my girlfriend. This is my power – to spend time with my family, my girlfriend, in my country… my whole life is there, but I make the sacrifice I need to be the best.”
That time away from home has been stressful in part becasue he’s away from those who motivate him and who he fights for, but also because he hasn’t been able to get the fights he expected. He’s had five fights cancelled since the move and another that he had to pull out of when he was offered his Contender Series contract. Despite all that, he knows that his time in Vegas working with Xtreme Couture and Dewey Cooper is going to get him where he needs to go.
“I moved my life, right now, to Vegas just because here you have the best preparation, the best training, the best coaches, the best everything. So I decided to make the move to Las Vegas,” Aronov explained. “I got to Xtreme Couture to spar. I spar with all the best guys. I think that Xtreme Couture has the best middleweight room in the world including Roman Dolidze, Chris Curtis, Sean Strickland, and Brad Tavares… I did the move because I want to be the best, and if I want to be the best, I have to train with the best.”
With Contender Series nearing, he feels in the best shape of his life to bring that contract back to his family in Israel. In order to do that, he’ll have to get through Zachary Reese. That fight takes place as the main event of week 3 of Dana White’s Contender Series. That card starts Tuesday at 7pm on ESPN+.
You can hear the entire audio of this interview at 25:07.
