Mark Henrys gym i New York är fullt med etablerade legender och lovande nykomlingar. Från topprankade fjäderviktaren och före detta lättviktsmästaren Frankie Edgar, topprankade lättviktaren Edson Barboza och före detta lättviktsmästaren Eddie Alvarez, till UFC-nykomlingar som Marlon Moraes.
Men ett namn som har blivit hypat av såväl tränare som fighters är dagestaniern Zabit Magomedsharipov som gjorde sin UFC-debut i september i år.
I en intervju med MMAfighting talar tränar Henry ut om förberedelserna inför Magomedsharipovs kommande match mot Sheymon Moraes, som tidigare har mött Marlon Moraes i WSOF.
“It’s definitely a step-up, [from Mike Santiago]” sa Henry.
“We’ve prepared for Sheymon before when he fought Marlon. We’re lucky in that both of the opponents Zabit has had we have prepared for before. This is another stiff test, so we’ve got to give him our full attention.”
Hade beef med Artem Lobov
Innan Artem Lobovs match mot Andre Fili hade Lobov och Magomedsharipov munhuggits på Twitter och Mark Henry hade börjat fila på en game plan för ryssen. Lobovs kommentarer om Khabib Nurmagomedov gick inte hem hos Magomedsharipov, som gick till attack å sin dagestanska väns vägnar.
“After the last loss I don’t think that’s the route to go anymore,” förklarade Henry.
“The thing was, Artem had said something about Khabib and all of these guys are really close, you know?
“It was very out of Zabit’s nature to say the things he was saying about Artem, he’s such a good kid. When I heard him talk about Artem my eyes kind of popped open.
“We had talked about Artem a lot because of his style too. I think it’s a great fight for Zabit. He’s got a nasty side to him. When he gets hit that’s usually when you see it. That’s why Artem was on our minds, but right now all we’re thinking about is Sheymon.”
Ser många likheter med Frankie Edgar
Att bli jämförd med en av de bästa MMA-fighters som någonsin funnits är en stor komplimang. Mark Henry menar att han ser många likheter mellan Magomedsharipov och Edgar. Bland annat har de samma tuffhet och mentala styrka, som har tagit Edgar väldigt långt i sin karriär.
“I see a lot of things in Zabit that I see in Frankie,” sa Henry
“Of course, the skillset is there, but it’s other things like toughness and heart that you can’t train that he just has naturally. Frankie was a champion and I see the exact same championship qualities in Zabit.
“I can remember I saw Sean (Shelby) and he was feeling out what kind of opponents we were thinking about. I told him Zabit and Frankie are good friends and I explained to him that when he is matching Zabit he should close he eyes and pretend that he’s matching Frankie, because he is ready for those kind of fights.
Gillar Magomedsharipovs chanser mot mästarna
Vidare säger Mark Henry att han tycker att Magomedsharipovs striking och räckvidd passar bra mot både Max Holloway och Conor McGregor, men även mot fjäderviktslegenden Jose Aldo.
“I think he destroys McGregor. I think he could beat Max too, but he would look phenomenal against McGregor. He has that range too, so I think he could look good against Aldo as well.”
Henry har varit med i gamet länge och tränat några av de bästa. Han gör inte misstaget att se förbi Moraes och börja tänka på titlar eller framtida matcher. Det hårda arbetet är klart så nu gäller det bara att hålla Magomedsharipov vässad inför matchen i Kina och se till att han kommer hem med en vinst.
Allt fokus ligger just nu på att besegra Sheymon Moraes, inget annat.
“Right now, Saturday is all we’re concerned with. We’re not thinking about titles, we’re not thinking about the next guy, we’re thinking about Sheymon Moraes,” sa Henry.
“We’ve fought him before, he’s an amazing competitor. Honestly, all I’m thinking about is leaving for China and getting our workouts right. I want to have a good workout the day before and a good workout just before the fight. We’ve got a great game plan that I wouldn’t mind going over a few times too.
“I’m just happy to see this guy continue to develop as a fighter and continue to get his feet wet within the UFC. He’s getting a lot of love in Russia and when you’re young that can be hard to handle, but he’s handling it well.
“We have to beat Moraes before anything else. He’s a dangerous guy and he could easily have his hand raised.
“The bubble could burst at any time here. I’m very confident that this guy has a huge future but in the fight game you’ve got to take it one step at a time.”
