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| Yousefi
This
Friday’s King of the Cage event is titled “Earthquake”, and the June
7th card will feature a bout that could have a big impact on the
promotion’s featherweight division, as Behrang Yousefi will take on Alex
Halkias. Both men have impressed since they transitioned into pro MMA in recent
years, and a win over the other will make a statement about where they sit in
the promotion’s rankings.
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Yousefi,
however, focused on the financial reward of fighting Halkias, when asked what a
win over the undefeated Toronto fighter would mean.
“A
win over Alex means I'm one win purse closer to buying a home.”
Yousefi
has fought exclusively for King of the Canada since he turned pro in 2011, and
aside from a submission loss to featherweight champ Josh Machan, he has won all
five of his bouts. Most recently, the 25 year-old fighter scored a unanimous
decision win over Cameron Loutitt at KOTC’s “Monster Smash” in April.
“Winning
is always priority number one, regardless of coming of a loss or not, I was not
impressed with my performance; ring rust is real, I felt it,” said Yousefi, who
was fighting for the first time since he faced Machan in April, 2012. “Cameron
was a great opponent who exposed a lot of holes in my game, many of which I
have worked on ever since.”
“I know
a little bit about Behrang,” said Halkias, while discussing his next opponent. “I
know some people out west who have seen him compete, and I've seen some tape on
him as well. But to be honest, this isn't something I focus on. At the end of
the day it's a fight. I'm more focused on what I am going to do than what he
might do.”
Although
Halkias didn’t take his first pro fight until last year, the 29 year-old-teacher
has been training in jiu-jitsu for quite some time.
“I
first began training jiu jitsu back in 2005, and after a couple of years added
wrestling and striking to part of my training regimen with the thought of
competing in MMA in the back of my mind,” said Halkias, who trains out of Open
Mat MMA and Para Bellum MMA alongside fighters like Antonio Carvalho, Josh
Hill, Alex Ricci, and Lyndon Whitlock. “However, I began seriously training to
compete in MMA about 3 years ago. I began my professional career in April of
2012 and finished last year with a record of 3-0.”
“Alex
is a highly experienced, very dangerous fighter who has been competing at jiu-jitsu
nationally since 2007,” noted Yousefi. “I signed up for my first MMA class back
in 2009 so I've really got to bring my A game to stop Alex.”
And
how does each man approach their bouts, considering the training they’ve done
and what they feel are their best assets?
“”I
approach fights with the intention of finishing them,” noted Halkias, who has
been cornered by Andrew McInnes in all three of his bouts. “Although it isn't
always possible I don't believe in approaching a fight to win on points.
Although I won a unanimous decision in my last fight I was disappointed,
because I know I was capable of finishing that fight, as I had done in my
previous bouts. I believe that my best assets in fighting are fight
intelligence, and I would like to think that I am a technical fighter as well."
“I
don't step into the cage to fight a man, fighting is dumb,” said Yousefi who
credited Behnam Yousefi, Jarid Bussemakers, Gasper Bonomo, David Ansah, the Red
Dragons team and Kamakazi Punishment for helping him get ready for Halkias. “I
go in and solve a violent problem with my mind body and soul.”
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