Cirkunov fixes sights on UFC 206 title belt

TORONTO • No offence to Nikita Krylov, but Misha Cirkunov would have much preferred to fight someone a little more, uh, familiar at UFC 206.

Someone like, oh, maybe former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio (Shogun) Rua. Or one of the similarly named Nogueira twins, Antonio Rodrigo and Antonio Rogerio, two of the toughest Brazilian forces around.

Anybody even a casual MMA fan would recognize. Not relatively unknown brawler Krylov, a tough dude but not exactly a household name in these parts.

“I really want to fight people who are legends, big names of the sport, to showcase who I am,” Cirkunov said in a one-on-one interview with Postmedia. “I want a big fight. (Krylov) is ranked No. 8 in the whole world. It’s a great fight (but) it’s not the fight that I wanted.

“I wanted to get a fight against a real veteran, somebody like Mauricio Shogun or one of the Nogueira brothers, somebody who is established, used to be a former UFC champion and all that. It’s the last fight of my contract. So I wanted to show the UFC my true potential.”

Still, when the UFC offered up a fight with Krylov, there were only two words Cirkunov could respond with. And neither rhymed with truck. All he offered UFC matchmaker Joe Silva was a simple “thank you.”

Instead, he will be entering the octagon at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday against an aging but dangerous ex-champ or contender, Cirkunov will need to make do with eighth-ranked Krylov, a 24-year-old Ukrainian riding a five-fight (all KOs or submissions) winning streak. Krylov is coming off an impressive second-round KO of veteran Ed Herman at UFC 201 in July.

But Cirkunov, ranked 13th and considered a rising star in the UFC’s light heavyweight division, has been equally as impressive as Krylov during his MMA career, if not more so.

Heck, the guy hasn’t lost in more than four years, a seven-win streak dating back to March 2012 when he was submitted by Aaron Johnson at King of the Ring VI in Norcross, Ga. Plus, he’s won his first three UFC fights by KO or submission, including one against Alex Nicholson that ended with a vicious jawbreaking neck crank in the second round that solidified his rep as a fighter not to be trifled with.

“Before I even entered the UFC, I looked at the top-10 guys and said, ‘Can I hang (with them)?’” Cirkunov said. “And I said, ‘Yeah, I can hang.’ I know I can hang with all the top-10 guys. It’s just a matter of proving it in front of everybody under those bright lights.”

To start with, Cirkunov is a physical specimen, 6-foot-3 and rippling with muscles who, he says, could compete at middleweight or heavyweight, in addition to light heavyweight. He’s got the tools and the background — he was highly accomplished in judo as an amateur and has black belt in jiu-jitsu — to reach the top of the UFC.

The whispers have started that Cirkunov has the overall makeup to one day wear the title belt.

But there are still doubters, still people who question if he will ever win a championship in the world’s biggest MMA organization. Don’t count Cirkunov himself among that ever-dwindling group, though.

“That’s the only reason I’m here,” Cirkunov said when asked if he believes he can eventually win a championship. “I’m not just here to take fights, just to tell people I used to fight in the UFC. Every single competition I’ve entered my whole life, I was going for the gold medal. In this game, we don’t have any gold medals, there is a belt.

“My main goal is to go after the belt. A lot of people doubted me. I love it, I use it for fuel. This is just my fourth fight in the UFC. I plan on staying here for at least five years and doing a lot of damage in this division.”

Cirkunov is willing to put everything — a new contract, perhaps even his future as a championship contender — on the line when he hooks up with Krylov.

“It’s extremely important to win this fight,” he said.