Makashvili shrugs off Eddiva’s hometown advantage at UFC Manila

Nissi Icasiano

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Makashvili shrugs off Eddiva’s hometown advantage at UFC Manila
"I totally feel comfortable and confident. I am a fighter. All this stuff means nothing whether it's Philippines or China," said Makashvili

MANILA, Philippines – Levan Makashvili believes that he can handle the burden of coming into enemy territory when he collides with Filipino fighter Mark Eddiva at UFC Fight Night 66 on Saturday, May 16.

Makashvili (6-1) considers himself a journeyman in his young mixed martial arts career as he left his home-country of Georgia to train and compete in the rough east cost circuit of the United States.

The 26-year-old Georgian stressed that fighting on a different turf is not new to him and brushed off the pressure that a tough test awaits him as he locks horns with Eddiva (6-1), who has had two previous fights inside the UFC cage.

“It makes no difference. It doesn’t matter where territory I go. I totally feel comfortable and confident. I am a fighter. All this stuff means nothing whether it’s Philippines or China,” Makashvil told Rappler through his translator.

Makashvili is set to make his first UFC appearance after having his last four fights under the Cage Fury Fighting Championships banner, where he won three matches and lost once to Alexandre Bezerra via majority decision in August 2014.

The 5-foot-8 featherweight sees Eddiva as an average roadblock along his path as he was originally penciled to square off with No.7-ranked Nik Lentz this past February before being relegated to take Alex White’s spot to face the Team Lakay standout.

“I feel totally relaxed. There is no pressure on my end. I am just going to do when I do. I am not really studying Mark. He is a fighter just like every fighter. Inside the ring, I am just going to make what I do best,” he stated.

On Eddiva’s part, he admitted that his team needed to change the game plan when they received the notice that Makashvili replaced White.

“We were originally preparing for a southpaw because Alex White is left-handed. We had to make some necessary adjustments, but we didn’t have difficulties in studying my new opponent,” he stated in Filipino.

Like Eddiva, striking is Makashvili’s wheelhouse as he has excellent fundamentals in terms of footwork and generates tremendous force in his sharp round kicks and clubbing combinations of hooks.

Meanwhile, Eddiva is regarded as a well-rounded combatant with a Wushu Sanshou pedigree, who prefers to clobber a straight right-left hook combination and throw hard kicks at all levels but particularly to the legs. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!