With KSW unable to find him an opponent, Lom-Ali Eskiev has made the jump to Oktagon MMA, where he’ll debut this weekend in the main event of Oktagon 60 against Ivan Buchinger.
Just days out from the fight, speaking to Cageside Press in an exclusive interview, Eskiev (21-7, 1NC) was cool as ice. Downright cold, perhaps, as far as the fight at least. “Now, actually zero emotion. I don’t think about [the] fight. I think maybe Friday I think more about the fight, but now nothing,” he stated.
The main event spot, at home in Germany, came about after KSW struggled to get him an opponent. While still under contract with the Polish promotion, Eskiev “should normally fight one more fight in KSW in August, two more fights, but KSW could not get him any opponent so far,” his manager explained. “And then we had the opportunity, or the request from Oktagon” to take part in the main event of Oktagon 60 in Uberhausen, Germany.
In jumping promotions, “the KSW deal is over,” and Lom-Ali Eskiev is now “exclusively fighting for Oktagon.”
As for Buchinger, Eskiev immediately saw the upside in the match-up. A former M-1 champ, Ivan Buchinger is a well-traveled veteran, who has shared the cage with the likes of Conor McGregor and Salahdine Parnasse.
“Ivan Buchinger is a very experienced fighter. He had great achievements so far in his fighting career, but on Saturday in the cage, the respect ends,” Eskiev told us. “When the door closes, it’s time to fight, and to win this fight.”
Should Lom-Ali win the fight, he plans to have a callout ready to go, but first, he’s concentrating “only on Ivan Buchinger, and to win this fight on Saturday.”
Past that, the 32-year old is “ready for anybody. If it’s a champ or somebody else, it doesn’t matter.”
First however comes Buchinger, a fight Eskiev believes may go the distance. “I’m expecting that it will go over the rounds. I’m ready to go five rounds. But if it’s possible, of course I would like to finish earlier. But in any case, what[ever] happens, I’m ready to fight five rounds and get the decision win.”
Watch our full interview with Oktagon 60’s Lom-Ali Eskiev above.
