Hamid ”Akira” Corassani delar med sig av sina tankar om den kommande utmaningen på finalen av The Ultimate Fighter: Nations där han ställs mot forne sparringpartnern Dustin Poirier.
Svenske Hamid ”Akira” Corassani (12-3, 1 NC) tog sig till UFC under 2011 efter att ha deltagit i den fjortonde säsongen av The Ultimate Fighter. Efter sin medverkan dröjde det ända till 2012 innan han på UFC on Fuel 5 besegrade Andy Ogle via delat domslut. Därefter tog han hem segern mot Robbie Peralta inför en hemmapublik på UFC Stockholm. I hans senaste framträdande blev han träffad av ett knä i ansiktet medan han fortfarande var nere på mattan och matchen mot Maximo Blanco slutade med seger för svensken via diskvalifikation.
Corassani är närmast inbokad mot sjätterankade Dustin Poirier (15-3) på TUF Nations-finalen. Inför den kommande matchen hade Corassani följande att säga till UFC.com.
– On paper, yeah, he’s the toughest so far, but we have to figure that out when we get into the cage,” sa han. “Dustin and I were roommates in Colorado. We went to camp together. We went as sparring partners. We were sparring each other for a while. He knows what I had and I know what he had back then. This is not personal, this is business. He’s in my way and I’m in his way. If you picture two guys starving, our sport is this: there’s a plate of food in the middle, and only one guy can eat. That’s just the job, säger Corassani.
– I’m gonna win. That’s it, säger Corassani. When the cage door closes all bets are off. I’ve done that before, where I think ‘He’s fought that guy and that guy beat me and I beat that guy and he lost to him,’ and none of that matters when the cage door closes. It’s a clean sheet every time the bell rings for round one.
– Dustin and I are cool. We will be friends before we go into the Octagon, and we will be friends again when we leave the Octagon. But once that cage door is locked, we aren’t friends. We’re competitors. We’re warriors. And this is going to be a great fight. The sport is small. Most of us are friends. And the viewer may not understand that. They may watch and say, ‘How can these guys be friends and beat each other up?’ It’s no different than the Rangers playing the Devils in hockey. These guys may fight like warriors on the ice, but after the game they all hang out and have beers together. Our sport is no different.
TUF Nationsx-finalen går av stapeln den 16 april i Colisee Pepsi i Quebec City, Quebec, Kanada. Huvudmatchen är ett mellanviktsmöte mellan Michael Bisping och Tim Kennedy.
