Up until this point Mike Russow has essentially flown under the radar in the UFC’s heavyweight division.
As he approaches what he describes as “the biggest fight of my career“, facing Fabricio Werdum in the co-main event of UFC 147 it’s fair to say there’s not a lot of buzz around it and and certainly no-one’s talking about him being in title contention any time soon.
However, he’s only lost once in his 17 fight career and is currently on an 11 fight winning streak, with four of those victories coming in the UFC.
He needs a big fight to put himself on the map, and while on paper the odds seem stacked against him he sees this as the fight to make that leap into the limelight.
“I’m going in against the guy that’s fifth in the world, going to Brazil to fight him in his home town…this could really kick my career into a high gear.”
If he is able to pull off the upset win it wouldn’t be the first time – he sent jaws dropping around the world when he survived a two round beatdown at the hands of Todd Duffee before producing a classic come-from-behind KO in the third back in 2010.
Werdum knows a thing or two about that too though, going into the history books as the first man in 10 years to beat Fedor Emelianenko during his time in the Strikeforce promotion and if he’s smart the Brazilian won’t be underestimating this unassuming Chicago cop when they meet in the Octagon next Saturday night.
Watch more of Russow’s pre-fight interview below.
—
