Heavyweight Oleg Popov knows big things are ahead if he can keep winning, as he enters a PFL Nashville semifinal fight with Linton Vassell on Friday.
At the same time, during Wednesday’s media day, Popov (18-1) told media outlets including Cageside Press that there was a point he doubted such success would ever come for him.
“Everything is going well. If I keep winning and doing exactly that, I’m going to be training and pursuing [a title]. That means I’m going to be at a higher stage,” said Popov. “I’ll be able to have bigger and better fights, and I’ll establish myself as one of the great fighters.”
“Having said that, there was a time when I thought that I wouldn’t be able to do it, and I wouldn’t be able to make it this far,” Popov added.
Popov is a member of Fedor Team, the camp eponymously named for heavyweight great Fedor Emelianenko. That puts Popov in good company, alongside the likes of Vadim Nemkov and Valentin Moldavsky, the latter of whom Vassell is replacing on Friday.
As for Vassell, he predicted a second round finish ahead of the fight. Popov, in response, said he’s expecting a great fight.
“He said the second round? Wow that’s going to be interesting. That means it’s going to be a great fight,” Popov suggested. “If he got the news three weeks before the fight, but he also fought two months before that, I’m pretty sure he’s going to be in great shape. And once again, he said in the second round, so we’re going to see what’s up with that in the fight.”
Popov also addressed being a smaller heavyweight in a division full of big men.
“It’s something that, I’m always a little bit smaller as a heavyweight compared to all the other guys. For me, it’s something that I’m used to. I’m going to wrestle and box him.”
Watch the full PFL Nashville media day appearance by Oleg Popov above.
