The fight has been booked before, and as former champ Surdu told Cageside Press recently, “a few times we had a chance, but unfortunately, the fight didn’t work so now is the third one. Hopefully we’ll be all good until the fight.”

Asked if he had any trepidation about the fight falling through once again, Surdu (17-7) admitted that “our business is a hard business. Until the last day, you can be good but on the last day you can do something or you can have some problem unfortunately. I hope that it will be all good with my opponent, with me, and finally we will meet each other in the cage. But at the same time if something happens, I’m ready for all [comers].”

Surdu never lost his welterweight title in a fight, instead, he lost the belt on the scales, missing weight back in November. What happened after that loss sheds some light on why the mishap occurred in the first place.

“After that I went for a blood test, I did tests on my body and unfortunately there was bacteria in my body. Because of this bacteria, my kidneys were blocked and I couldn’t do my weight, so for that [reason] I missed the weight.”

Clearing the bacteria from his body and making a few changes in camp has Surdu back on target for the welterweight division. And despite having gone up to middleweight before, he never considered another move up.

The day or so between losing his title and actually fighting (and defeating) Andrej Kalašnik last November, meanwhile, was a tumultuous one.

“It was a crazy, crazy 24 hours. I [missed] the weight, there was a chance to not fight, because 3 and a half kilos, it was a lot, and much respect to Kalašnik that he accepted the fight,” stated Surdu. “Of course I gave him 50% of my purse but yeah, he accepted the fight. I did a few things from doctors and I got back. Mindset, I can say I have one of the best mindsets in the game because I know what I can do. When people say that I can’t do something, for me it’s the best motivation.”

“At the same time when I step into the arena, when I walk into the cage, all the people were hating me. It was a crazy, crazy atmosphere. First time in my life, 60% of the highlights were on me but for me, it was the best. Because under pressure, I’m good.”

In fact, under pressure is exactly where Ion Surdu wants to be. “When it’s the biggest pressure of my life, I’m good. So I love to be under pressure, and you can see that in my last fight, in my performance.”

Watch our full interview with Oktagon 86’s Ion Surdu above. The event takes place on Saturday, April 11, 2026 in Szczecin, Poland.

The post Oktagon 86’s Ion Surdu: “I Love to Be Under Pressure” appeared first on Cageside Press.