Bellator MMA has made some impressive acquisitions as of late, with “The Red King” joining the likes of Matt Mitrione in the Scott Coker – run promotion. Among those acquisitions, a certain Russian star chose to join Bellator MMA over the likes of UFC, and when she made her debut for the promotion, the eyes of the entire world were on her, to see how she would fare in one of the leading MMA organizations in the world.
Anastasia Yankova made her promotional debut at Bellator 152, taking on Anjela Pink. The former Muay Thai world champion looked phenomenal, finishing her opponent in just under 100 seconds of the first round.
While this served as a sign of things to come, the Russian sensation is enjoying the attention she has been getting from around the world.
“I actually don’t mind the hype, I like the hype”, Yankova told us in an exclusive interview, through the help of an interpreter. “I hope there is more hype because we’re in the hype business. This is profession I chose, to be fighting for the fans, in front of the fans, so the more hype the better. So, I feel great about it; I have a lot of supporters from all over the world, and I just hope that the numbers keep growing.”
As we’ve seen during the past weekend, not everyone can live up to the hype; however, Yankova (3 – 0 MMA, 1 – 0 BMMA) made quick work of her opponent at Bellator 152. Yankova has “been there, done that”, winning numerous championships and accolades during her time as a Muay Thai practitioner. However, she told us that nerves do still get to her before a big fight.
“It was almost like a very surreal experience”, she added while talking about her promotional debut. “I was… I could hear the crowd when I was walking out; I almost had an out of body experience. It was very powerful, almost like a dream.
I never expected to have this much support fighting outside of Russia. There were so many fans that wanted to talk to me. I spent 20 minutes after the fight just taking pictures before I even got back to my locker room. So, it was a very surreal experience.”
Earlier this year, Scott Coker told the media that they were planning on adding titles to a couple of women’s divisions – including the flyweight division. While Anastasia will be fighting for the second time under the Bellator MMA banner at Bellator 161, she made it clear that she wanted to create history in the sport.
“First of all, my goal is to perform well, and that I keep winning my fights, and the moment that Bellator feels like I should be the first person to fight for the title, and win the title.
My goals are to do just that; to show with my performances that I should be fighting for the title. I plan to win the title and hold on to it for a long time, and I would want to be not just the first – but the first Russian woman to hold the title in that weight class.”
Yankova has received overwhelming support from around the world, and going into her fight against Veta Arteaga, Anastasia wanted to thank her fans for the support, including the Indian MMA fans.
“First of all, I’m very flattered that, a country that I’ve never visited before or been to (supports me), but I’ve always been fascinated by India and by its culture. I’ve read a lot about it, and always wanted to visit it, and be able to experience it firsthand. So I’m hoping that I will be able to do that soon.
But until then, I just want to thank all my fans for all their support, not just in India but all over the world.”
Bellator 161 will take place inside the H – E – B Center in Cedar Park, Texas on Friday, September 16th (Saturday morning IST), and will be headlined by the heavyweight fight between veteran Cheick Kongo and Tony Johnson.
