It seems Misha Cirkunov has the respect of one of the top light heavyweights on the planet.
Anthony Johnson is set for a title rematch against Daniel Cormier at UFC 210. The event will take place inside the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY on April 8.
While the light heavyweight division isn’t considered by many to be as strong as it once was, Johnson doesn’t necessarily agree. He told Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour that there are plenty of 205-pounders who are making a name for themselves:
“A lot of guys in the weight class have been putting in good work. Jimi Manuwa, he just came out of a fight with OSP and knocked him out. That was a clean knockout on his part. Who else is out there? Gus is still out there. I wouldn’t be surprised if they tried to make Gus and Jon fight again, just to see if you have a different result. So there’s a couple of guys up there who definitely have my attention.”
There’s one fighter in particular that catches “Rumble’s” eye and he isn’t even officially on the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster anymore.
“I think, besides DC, the one guy that has my attention is, what’s his name? Misha (Cirkunov). That dude is a beast. He’s a beast, man. I like his style, and he’s built like a brick house. I think his ass is gangster. I don’t think he’s close, but he’s definitely somebody you’ve got to watch out for.”
Cirkunov, Lorenz Larkin and Rick Story were suddenly removed from the UFC rankings. While Larkin is officially a free agent who has the attention of Bellator, the story on Cirkunov wasn’t immediately known. It was later revealed that the Latvian prospect is also a free agent. There’s been no word on contract negotiations between the two sides.
