
Athletes
Even though Viacheslav Borshchev only made his UFC debut two months ago, he has his sights set on some big accomplishments for the rest of year. It’s part of the reason why he was so eager to get back into the Octagon as soon as he could.
“I want to finish my contract as soon as possible this year,” Borshchev told UFC.com ahead of his fight at UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs Daukaus. “This year I want to finish my first contract.”
The 30-year-old had an impressive showing during his UFC debut in January against Dakota Bush, earning a knockout victory with a brutal body shot in the first round. The victory extended his win streak to four fights and bumped his record up to 6-1.
He’s already starting to gain some traction on fighters to watch for the post-fight celebration, as well.
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“I even saw some fighters who said, ‘Big fan,’” Borshchev said. “It’s so cool. Some people are a little bit shy to talk about it. I really love it. I don’t think I’m a bad example. It’s part of the job.”
“Slava Claus” had been waiting for that moment to take his walk into the UFC Octagon for a very long time. He knew that he was prepared for all the excitement and hype that would come following the fight.
“The night before the fight was super tough; everything after, I was ready,” Borshchev said. “I was dreaming about this so many times, thinking about it. Probably now mentally I’m much stronger to get any hype. I’m a businessman and I’m here to do my business.”
For him, the fight starts as soon as he leaves his locker room. Of course, he thinks about the walk out and jamming to his entrance music, but mentally he is already in the fight as soon as he starts to make that walk.
This weekend, Borshchev will stand across from lightweight Marc Diakiese, who is stepping into his first fight of 2022 and looking to rebound after dropping two straight. Borshchev is excited for what this matchup could bring.
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“Every fight you watch of his it’s always entertainment and I think that it was a great idea for us to fight each other because it’s for sure going to be entertainment,” Borshchev said. “It should be fun. He’s a good striker, he can wrestle, he can do everything, pretty much.”
The Team Alpha Male product has shown the experience and dominance that he possesses when it comes to boxing and kickboxing. Borshchev earned his UFC contract on season five of Dana White’s Contender Series with a knockout of Chris Duncan in the second round. While Diakiese has also shown his share of striking skills, earning six wins by knockout, Borshchev feels that the fight won’t take place on the feet.
“I’m almost 100 percent sure he is going to wrestle me,” Borshchev said. “I believe he is going to try and wrestle me, but we’ll see how it goes.
“Because my striking is very good, and he can’t beat me that way. Maybe he can, maybe not, maybe even less than 50/50. He might think that it’s a good idea to wrestle me because he has more experience, or whatever. That’s how I see it.”
Borshchev’s focus heading into the bout is finding himself and showing the best version of himself inside the Octagon. He is ready to have another impressive showing and earn another victory.
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At the end of the day, Borshchev isn’t really worried about moving up the rankings; he wants other things.
“My main reason I worked so hard to get in the UFC is to get more numbers in my account,” Borshchev said. “I used to fight for so long, I used to have all these belts, medals, whatever, I don’t really worry about that stuff anymore. I need more numbers. The more the better.”
UFC Fight Night: Blaydes vs Daukaus took place on Saturday, March 26, 2022, live from a sold out Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses — and relive all of the action on UFC Fight Pass.