‘Smooth’ Simeon Powell faces Jakub Nedoh on Friday in the inaugural PFL Europe finals event in Dublin, Ireland.
The winner of the fight will earn themselves $100,000 and the opportunity to become the first-ever PFL Europe light heavyweight champion.
For the Brit, he has the opportunity to change his life having quit his job as an apprentice engineer to take up MMA full time.
Nedoh, his opponent, has knocked out his two opponents thus far in the tournament. The Slovenian is unbeaten since his professional debut in 2014.
Powell has all the respect for the 27-year-old but believes he hasn’t fought anybody like himself.
He said: “The guy’s a phenomenal athlete. His physique [and] the record, it speaks for itself.
“But, I back myself and he ain’t fought anyone like me. I’ve done it in the space of just over two years and I feel like that speaks loudly, like how hungry and determined I am. I’m that young lion, do you know what I mean?
“I can come in and I feel like he’s a game opponent and that excites me, so yeah.”
Powell Believes Nedoh Will Bring the Best Out of Himself
Fighters often talk about wanting to fear their opponents ahead of fights. This is also proved scientifically – a 100-year-old study by Harvard psychologists revealed that moderate levels of anxiety can elevate performance. Meanwhile, too much or even too little can harm performance.
Recently, Tom Aspinall discussed this ahead of his title-winning fight with Sergei Pavlovich. At the UFC 295 press conference, the UFC interim heavyweight champion said that fear is something he has a really good relationship with.
Powell is of a similar mindset. He believes that fearing his opponent will bring out the best version of himself
He said: “Refer back to my last fight, that guy didn’t, he didn’t keep me on my, like when I got told I was fighting this guy, It’s like I didn’t have that same sort of nervous feeling.
“Because I didn’t see him as dangerous, but Nedoh’s very dangerous and he’s definitely keeping me sharp and on my toes and I feel like I think the people are going to see the best version of me and what I really can do and no one’s actually seen that yet. So, it’s exciting.”
Simeon Powell Full Exclusive Interview
You can watch the full interview with Simeon Powell below:
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Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
