Donavon Frelow is on the verge of a big opportunity. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
Most mixed martial artists need to get 10 or more fights into their professional careers before they have a shot to win a championship in a major promotion.
“Camp has gone well for me,” Frelow recently told Sherdog.com. “I’m feeling really good. My weight is great and I’ve been getting some good training in. I feel really good right now.”
Frelow-Bibulatov is one of two championship bouts set for WSOF 24 along with a heavyweight title fight pitting champion Blagoy Ivanov against Derrick Mehmen. The card, headlined by a welterweight clash between former Ultimate Fighting Championships title challengers Jon Fitch and Yushin Okami, will be broadcast on NBCSN starting at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Frelow, who has four submissions among his five professional victories, was originally scheduled to fight for the title even sooner, but circumstances arose and the Wand Fight Team product had to settle for a first-round of submission of Carlos Garcia at WSOF 22 in August.
“I just kept training, WSOF gave me a different opponent and I fought,” said Frelow. “I’ve been training since after that fight. I ended up back in the gym after a week off, so I’ll have about a six-week camp for this fight. I hadn’t been training for a championship fight, but WSOF mentioned it as a possibility a few weeks ago, so I changed up my mindset and got ready.”
With less than a month to prepare for a five-round championship fight as opposed to a standard three-rounder, Frelow said there has been more of an emphasis on cardio during the preparations for Bibulatov.
“Obviously, we’re fighting up to five rounds, so I’ve been doing at least an extra couple of rounds in camp,” said Frelow, who has gone the distance in only one fight. “I usually spar more than five rounds to begin with, but I’ve been adding some intensity and adding more stength and conditioning. I’ve been doing some things to get me ready for five rounds. I’ve trained hard before, but we upped it to be ready to be the best for five rounds, not just be best for three rounds.”
The 30-year-old Frelow made his pro debut with a second-round submission of Georgie Garcia on a King of the Cage card, but the victory was memorable for more than one reason, as Frelow made a huge weight cut just to take the fight.
“What I did was really unhealthy, but I was really determined,” Frelow explained. “I was offered the fight and thought it was my chance to go pro, so I dropped from 149 pounds to 125 in three days. I knew I could do it if I set my mind to it. Believe it or not, I made the weight and felt good still. It really blew me away. Now, I’m comfortable at 125 and I don’t ever blow up that big again. I was 149 when I was between gyms and not training much. Since then, I walk around about 140 and that’s the highest I get, and it hardly ever happens. After I turned pro, there was no reason for me to get that big anymore.”
Bibulatov, a native of Russia’s Chechen Republic, is also unbeaten as a pro, sporting a perfect 9-0 mark. He is considered to be one of the top flyweights in Europe, and Frelow knows he’ll have his hands full.
“I’ll be quite honest,” said Frelow. “I know he likes to stand and guys from his area have a sambo background, but I haven’t been concentrating on what he does and what he can do. I’ve been focusing more on what I can do. I want to get my boxing sharp, my wrestling intact and just be an overall solid fighter. We both have good records, but he’s never fought me before. I never look at a fighter’s record. He’s 0-0 to me.”
Frelow said that making sure he implements his game plan is the biggest key to emerging as the WSOF’s inaugural flyweight ace.
“I’m just going to have to fight my fight, and that’s all I have control over,” said Frelow. “I have control over what I do and how I react to what he does. I’m ready to have fun, do my thing and fight my fight and get that belt around my waist.”