On Saturday, Swedish-Georgian lightweight Guram Kutateladze finally returns to the octagon after a 20 month lay off. In his comeback bout he will take on dangerous Russian Damir Ismagulov, who’s on a 15 fight win streak and undefeated in the UFC.
Kutateladze, who last fought and defeated Mateusz Gamrot in October 2020, sees himself as a whole different person and fighter now than two years ago. And on Saturday he intends to show it by ending Ismagulov’s winning streak with a finish.
“He is a very good fighter, very good schooled in all areas. And probably you can see it on his record too,” Kutateladze told the press at Wednesday’s media day. “But I believe I’m stronger in all the areas. If I want to be the best I have to fight the best guys, and I believe he is one of the best.”
“I have a lot of respect for my opponent, but I must do what I’ve got to do. He’s in my way to my dreams, to my goals.”
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Damir Ismagulov: “A very good opponent in front of me”
Damir Ismagulov does not look past “The Georgian Viking” in any way, but wants a ranked fighter next.
“If everything goes smoothly on Saturday and I get the win, because I have a very good opponent in front of me, after that, I believe I deserve someone from the top because I want to fight the best and I want to fight more often,” Ismagulov told the reporters at Wednesday’s press conference.
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Guram Kutateladze representing two countries
The Georgian-born fighter trains at Allstars Training Center in Sweden with fighters like Khamzat Chimaev, Alexander Gustafsson and Josefine Knutsson.
“I’m very proud to be Georgian and represent my country, but not only Georgia you know, because I’m representing Sweden too nowadays,” Kutateladze said. “Because of Sweden, I am where I am. Because Sweden gave me opportunities in life that Georgia couldn’t give me, even though I was born there, raised etcetera. But Sweden gave me a extra push, gave me a extra rocket so I can speed it up a little bit, even if it took time.”
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