Athletes
Roman Kopylov: Chasing The Dream
Middleweight Finisher Eyes A Fifth Straight Victory When He Faces Off With Anthony Hernandez In Saturday’s Main Card Opener
The landscape of the UFC middleweight division has shifted a great deal in the last couple years, with four different men laying claim to the throne since the outset of 2023 and a host of new names ascending the ranks and breaking into the Top 15.
One of the athletes that has slowly been climbing the divisional ladder during that time is Roman Kopylov.
After snapping a two-fight slide with a knockout win over Alessio Di Chirico at the UFC’s debut event in Paris, the 32-year-old Russian registered a trio of stoppage victories in 2023 to extend his winning streak to four and establish himself as one to watch in the 185-pound weight class heading into his 2024 debut opposite Anthony Hernandez on Saturday night in Anaheim.
How To Watch UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria In Your Country
“I think it’s the need for exciting fights, first of all, but it’s also where I train,” Kopylov said through translator Sergey Nagorny on Wednesday morning when asked what has contributed to his current run of outstanding form. “It’s a club called Universal Fighter; Rasul Magomedaliev is my head coach. It’s the guys, it’s the atmosphere, it’s the place that makes champions, so all credit is to them.
“The last four victories, I was with them; that’s when I really started training with them,” he added. “Before that, I was really here and there, never really had special guidance, but the last four victories that you see is when I started training with them in Makhachkala.”
Roman Kopylov Gets The Body Shot TKO Win | Noche UFC
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Roman Kopylov Gets The Body Shot TKO Win | Noche UFC
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Rebounding from dropping your first two appearances inside the Octagon to collecting a quartet of victories is impressive in and of itself, but when you factor in how Kopylov has been amassing these wins, it becomes even clearer why he led off this week’s Fighters on the Rise series and is quickly becoming a hardcore darling.
In Paris, he turned a close, competitive bout with Di Chirico into a decisive finish, building momentum late in the second before swarming and collecting the stoppage a minute and change into the third. Against Punahele Soriano last January, he utilized a stinging jab and a series of punishing punches and kicks to the body to fell the Hawaiian.
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At the end of July, he ventured to Salt Lake City, Utah, and navigated a scare at the close of the first round before coming out in the second and putting Claudio Ribeiro down with a crushing high kick. And in September, a left hand to the body finally ended a one-sided drubbing of Josh Fremd, leaving the streaking Kopylov on the cusp of the rankings and eager to continue making noise this year.
In order to give himself the best opportunity to do so, he took it upon himself to start a training camp shortly after the holidays, despite not having a matchup in place, aware that plenty of middleweight contests were being booked and a short notice opportunity may present itself.
Not long after, the call came in for him to replace Ikram Aliskerov opposite Hernandez in this weekend’s UFC 298 pay-per-view opener.
“Right after New Year’s, which is really the big holiday back home, I knew that it was time to start training,” began Kopylov, who prepped alongside fellow UFC middleweight Armen Petrosyan, who competed last weekend in Las Vegas, falling to Rodolfo Vieira. “I knew that all these announcements were gonna start happening, the new fights were gonna be added. My manager wrote the UFC, spoke to the UFC asking, ‘What about now? Is there anything on the horizon?’
“I wanted to be ready for a last-minute replacement because I know that those things happen, especially at the beginning of the year. I specifically made the choice to be in camp the second all the big holidays were over.
“Once I heard the offer for the fight, I was already two weeks deep in my camp, so the last two weeks, we basically worked specifically for the opponent — looked at the opponent, dissected what he does,” he added. “The first two weeks was the regular start and the last two weeks were specifically for him, which was perfect for me — I didn’t have to bring myself into the camp; I was already in it.”
UFC 298 Full Fight Card Preview
While a situation like this was precisely what he was preparing for by entering into camp midway through January without a fight date on the books, the specific pairing with Hernandez was one that excited Kopylov, as the two had previously been slated to face off in September before “Fluffy” was forced to withdraw.
“We were scheduled to fight back in the summer, and I think he got injured or something, so he wasn’t able to fight; that’s why I fought Josh that time,” began the surging finisher, who has finished all but one of his dozen career victories inside the distance. “But as they say, ‘What was written must happen’ — you can’t escape what was written, and that’s why this fight must happen.
“He’s in the rankings already, he’s No. 15, and I guess it’s my turn to switch with him in the rankings,” continued Kopylov, further detailing the draw of stepping in with Hernandez, who also arrives on a four-fight winning streak. “I want this fight to keep climbing up the ladder, show good fights, and get better every time.”
After entering last year below .500 in the UFC and off the radar in the middleweight division, Kopylov begins his 2024 campaign as one of the hottest fighters in the weight class, slated to kick off the main card of the first of three highly anticipated pay-per-view events over the next three months, with a place in the rankings likely on the line.
It’s been a whirlwind year and a lot to take in, but it has all affirmed to him that the work has been worth it.
“For me, the most important in all these results is the happiness I bring to the people around me, to the people that support me — to my family, to my coaches, to the team that puts in so many hard hours in practice,” he said. “We keep working and sometimes you get tired, sometimes you get injuries, and you have to work through injuries, and all this hard work, for me, is a payoff for what happens inside the Octagon.
“Every victory is saying, ‘You’re not doing this for nothing; all this sacrifice is for a reason.’ If I can keep coming out to the Octagon, the door closes behind me, and everybody wants to see me, everybody is excited to see me, and wants to see me succeed, then I’m not doing it just for myself and I hope I make them proud.”
And should he keep things rolling through the weekend, he has clear ideas on how he’d like to see things progress going forward.
“What’s next is the Top 10, Top 5, and then eventually a fight for the title,” he said, smiling. “Every fighter dreams about this — the title fight.
“This is our dream, this is what we’re trying to achieve, and we’re slowly trying to get to our dream.”
UFC 298: Volkanovski vs Topuria took place live from Honda Center in Anaheim, California on February 17, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
