Georgi Karakhanyan enters the cage on Saturday at Bellator 263 as the most experienced fighter on the roster. At 36 years old, Karakhanyan has over 40 fights under his belt and doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. On Saturday, he will be facing Kiefer Crosbie on the undercard.
The card is expected to be headlined by a Featherweight title fight between two of Karakhanyan’s former opponents AJ McKee and Patricio Freire. It’s a fight the California native is looking forward to.
“I think it’s a very exciting fight with $1,000,000 on the line,” said Karakhanyan in an exclusive interview with FighterPath’s Alex Wendling. “AJ is undefeated and never tasted defeat. Patricio is riding that wave in MMA. I think it is going to be exciting. If AJ wins I think it will be quick (hopefully longer than 8 seconds). If it goes past the first round, Patricio is a fighter that adjusts really good.”
The veteran isn’t looking past his opponent on Saturday, but has his eyes set on upcoming Bellator card. When asked about potentially competing on the upcoming Russia card in October, he expressed his desire to compete on the card. He wants to compete there so much so that he has been pestering the Bellator matchmakers to get him on the card.
“I fought there in the past, in 2018 and 2017.” told us. “My fan base in Russia is pretty big so I have been bugging Bellator everyday by saying ‘put me on that October card.’ I’m just trying to prove to them that I have a big enough fanbase [in Russia].”
When asked about the matchup on Saturday, Karakhanyan said he anticipates there to be fireworks between his Irish counterpart.
“Expect fireworks. Kiefer comes to fight and I come to fight,” said Karakhanyan. “It’s going to be exciting. Make sure you guys are there at The Forum this Saturday, July 31 live on Showtime.”
Watch the full interview with Alex Wendling above and be sure to follow us on Instagram at @FighterPathMMA.
