Misha Cirkunov stumbled a bit in his efforts to gain a UFC title fight earlier this year against Volkan Oezdemir, but isn't taking any easy roads back as he faces Glover Teixeira.
Cirkunov and Teixeira were originally scheduled to square off in Brazil in October, but Teixieira needed more time before he could get back in the cage. They've been moved to December 16 in Canada, which makes Cirkunov much more optimistic about the scrap.
"I'm happy I'm fighting in Canada. It's going to be my environment, the crowd is going to be on my side. I'm expecting to put on another really exciting, highlight reel performance," said Cirkunov to James Lynch of Fightful.com
Cirkunov opened up to Lynch about the knockout he received at the hands of Oezdemir earlier this year, but would also offer up his opinions and thoughts on his former opponent getting arrested last weekend.
"I don't really know what happened. Any charge is not a good look. We don't know the complete story. It could have been somebody drunk, picked a fight, picked on his girl. It could have been justified. It is interesting. Hopefully he's not in trouble, hopefully he can fight. The 205 division is a little cursed," Cirkunov said before saying that a good performance against Teixeira could put him in line for a title shot in light of the arrest.
In the full interview, Misha Cirkunov (13-3) discusses his upcoming fight against Glover Teixeira (26-6) at UFC on FOX 26 on Dec. 16. Misha also talks about his loss to Volkan Oezdemir (and Volkan's recent arrest), him being tested three times already by USADA, training in Thailand and GSP's title win at UFC 217.
