Mikhail Zayats: I could have finished (Lucio Linhares) in the first round

June 27, 2008 is the date of one of the greatest bouts ever contested under the M-1 banner. On that date, Brazil’s Lucio Linhares and Russia’s Mikhail Zayats battled to a decision in front of a capacity crowd on the deck of Vadim Finkelchtein’s “Flying Ducthman” restaurant in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Zayats, a protégé of Fedor Emelianenko, beat Linhares via controversial decision that some attributed to having the home-country advantage. More than a year later, with both men looking for closure, a rematch was scheduled at 185 lbs. during the undercard of Affliction’s ill-fated “Trilogy” event that had been scheduled for Aug. 1.

With the bout canceled, M-1 officials stepped in and quickly added the fight to its Aug. 28 “HDNET FIGHTS PRESENTS M-1 BREAKTHROUGH” event. In front of a live national audience on HDNet (10 p.m. ET) in the U.S. as well as a Global Internet pay-per-view audience on M-1Global.com, Linhares and Zayats will finally get the chance to set the record straight.

Zayats recently took a break from training for an interview with www.M-1Global.com.

M-1Global.com: What were your first feelings when you found out Josh Barnett was accused of testing positive for steroids, causing Affliction to cancel “Trilogy” along with your rematch vs. Linhares?

Mikhail Zayats: Of course I was extremely disappointed since such an exciting fight didn’t come to fruition. It’s quite suspicious that an athlete of Barnett’s caliber gets caught with some doping.

M-1Global.com: Let’s talk about your first fight against Lucio Linhares. How did you prepare for it? Were you pleased with the outcome of the fight?

Mikhail Zayats: Lucio Linhares is a tough fighter. His conditioning is good and he’s great on the ground. Once you hit the ground, you have to be constantly aware of his submission attempts. The first time we met there was no specific preparation for him since we had almost no information on him. Generally speaking, I went through regular training camp. In principle, I was satisfied with the result although I can remember now that I could (have) finish(ed) the fight in the first round had I not made some mistakes. He made me fight his fight a little bit that time.

M-1Global.com: Under what weight limit will you rematch? What specific aspect of the game are you working on the hardest compared to your first encounter?

Mikhail Zayats: The first time we fought in light heavyweight. Now it’s going to be middleweight which is more his natural weight category. My adaptation goes well. I lost some redundant kilo’s. It’s kind of uncomfortable feeling – I had to keep this weight more than initially planned since our rematch was rescheduled for August, 28. We trained hard for two months and peaked in due time but then the Affliction event was nixed. I can’t say that it has a great impact on me since the fight is still ahead of me. But psychologically and physically such a long training camp takes its toll, you know.

In the course of training we paid a lot of attention to some minor mistakes and tried to correct them all. For instance, in our first fight I let him get behind my back which he gladly used to his advantage. That was pretty dangerous situation where I was under his control, it could potentially lead to being choked out. Thanks God, I would escape.

M-1Global.com: What are Lucio’s strengths and weaknesses?

Mikhail Zayats: Everyone has his skill set. He likes to experiment a lot with his capabilities. He started actively engaging in exchange, he kicks now.

M-1Global.com: Who did you train with this time?

Our team is comprised of many athletes. I didn’t spar with one specific partner. All the guys that are 85 kg or heavier, they all sparred with me. We trained together since I prepared for my fight and they prepared for another tournament.

Training camp for the August 1 fight was split into two stages. The first one was the longest and was mostly dedicated to conditioning. We trained for three hours, twice a day. Consequently we worked on technique and speed. Since my fight was postponed we added one more mixed stage which included both conditioning and technique.

M-1Global.com: Recently you graduated from college. Could you elaborate on you education?

Mikhail Zayats: Yeah, I graduated from Russian State University of physical education, sports and tourism. The direction of my education included the following sports: parachute, auto, hand-to-hand combat, mountain and underwater sports. I learned a lot. Besides the aforementioned topics I learned a lot on training activities, medicine, anatomy, and psychology. It’s a pity I had to skip some courses due to the training camps but I caught up.

My specialty is applied martial arts. I got a certified trainer’s degree, as well as instructor’s and physical culture and sports teacher’s. This is a vital step before becoming a coach. I learned a lot about people in this aspect.

M-1Global.com: Concluding our interview, would you like to say anything to the fans and people rooting for you come August 28?

Mikhail Zayats: Well, I’d like to thank each and everyone for their support. I’m extremely please people watch my fights and follow my career. I’ll do my best to keep them please and to not disappoint. I’ll show what I’m capable of.