Middleweight Josh Fremd makes a quick turnaround to fight at Noche UFC this weekend, where he takes on the surging Roman Kopylov.
It’s nearly a month to the day that Fremd (11-4) captured a decision win over Jamie Pickett, his second straight victory inside the octagon. Being able to take another fight so soon, Fremd told The Top Turtle MMA Podcast on Cageside Press recently, came down to health.
“I was healthy. I came out of the fight with no injuries, no nagging anything. I was able to, so I hopped on it [the Noche UFC card],” explained Fremd.
It might seem surprising to hear of a fighter coming out of a 15-minute contest with no injuries. And there was a small cut on his forehead, noted Fremd, but nothing serious. “Nothing that kept me away from the gym longer than, I think I was out of the gym maybe four, five days.”
In fact Fremd got back in the gym “just waiting, hoping that something would come up,” because the Pickett fight was the final bout of his UFC contract. “So I’m waiting to hear, negotiations, if an opportunity came up, and it did, and I jumped on it. And I feel great about it.”
Once back in the gym, there was no easing into it. “There isn’t such a thing as a fight camp when you’re out here at Factory X. This is a lifestyle that we live. Whether I had won or lost, I was going to be back in the gym within the week.”
As he later put it, “this is my opportunity, my window in my professional career to make as much money as I can and fight the best people I can and chase after goals. So I’m not looking to take too much time off.”
After dropping back-to-back fights to start his UFC run, Josh Fremd was essentially fighting for his job when he turned things around earlier this year. First came a win over SD Dumas, then the second against Pickett. He hasn’t put too much thought into that roller coaster ride, however.
“I haven’t really taken a ton of time to think about that because I want three wins this year. Just the number three is ringing in my head.” Fremd is turning 30, and he wants three wins to go with that. But, he admitted, after back-to-back losses to start his UFC run, “it sucked. There were some low times after those first two fights, because I felt like I could have shown better in different things. But it’s kind of rejuvenating, honestly. I fell back in love with MMA. Training, the grind, everything.”
Roman Kopylov is on a three-fight finishing strike, which makes a fight with him decidedly dangerous. But the pair were scheduled to fight once before, only for Fremd to end up injured. “I’ve watched him his entire career, and yeah he’s a scary striker, he has big power, but there’s really nothing else that he presents. I’m only worried about his striking. He has no wrestling, no clinch, no jiu-jitsu I feel. So I’m excited to go in here and compete against this guy.”
