The Bellator debut of flyweight Anastasia Yankova will take place on Saturday in Italy as the Russian fighter will be meeting Anjela Pink, who is making her mixed martial arts debut.
Yankova (2-0) has won both of her mixed martial arts bouts by submission and her most recent win came in October against Chommanee Sor Taehiran by armbar submission. Ever since Bellator announced the signing of Yankova, the mixed martial arts community has commented about how she could be the future star of the Bellator 125 pound women’s decision.
With all of the hype behind Yankova, how does she want mixed martial arts fans to think about her heading into her Bellator debut? Well it’s actually pretty simple. She wants all of the Bellator fans to know that she loves this sport.
“I love what I do. I may not have much experience in MMA yet, but I work hard, I train hard,” Yankova told The MMA Report. “I’m not going to promise the fans a spectacular knockout, but I do promise the fans that I will do everything in my power to prepare for this fight and preform to the best of my abilities in the cage.”
While her fight on Saturday is not the main or co-main event of the fight card, many people in the industry are interested to see how she does in the Bellator cage. It could be stated that there is a lot of pressure on Yankova in this fight, is she feeling the additional pressure due to the media coverage?
“I’m used to media attention in Russia,” she explained. It’s part of being a professional athlete. To be honest I like reporters. I think the media is essential to building an athlete’s profile and connection with the fans, and in many ways, a relationship between a reporter and an athlete contributes not just to the athletes individual growth but also in the growth of the sport as a whole. So in a way both the athlete and the reporter are after the same result, so it’s in my best interests to do it well.”
While she may be young in mixed martial arts, she admitted to The MMA Report that the best advice that she has received to this point is to always be yourself. She will look to do that on Saturday at Bellator 152 in Italy and she is ready to show the Bellator fans what she is all about.
“I step into the cage on April 16 to fight. The opponent is a secondary consideration,” she said. “I am ready. I am prepared for wherever the fight will go, standing, on the ground, anywhere. I am doing everything I can to prepare for my debut on Spike and to win, as for the result, may the best fighter win.”