Canadian light-heavyweight Misha Cirkunov enjoying life in UFC after hard road

TORONTO – The punching bag at the Xtreme Couture gym has seen better days. Suspended by a chain, it looks a giant leather Timbit held together — unsuccessfully in places — by layers of tape.

Drenched in sweat, a ripped Misha Cirkunov batters the bag one punch at a time — a muscular metronome moving with malice. The Toronto light-heavyweight will be looking to do the same Saturday to UFC newcomer Alex (The Spartan) Nicholson in Las Vegas.

Cirkunov (10-2-0) needed just four minutes 45 seconds in his UFC debut to dispatch Daniel (The Werewolf of Texas) Jolly last August in Saskatoon. It was Cirkunov’s fifth straight first-round win, a run that has seen the six-foot-three 205 pounder fight a grand total of 12 minutes 40 seconds.

With five first-round finishes in his six wins, the six-foot-four Nicholson (6-1-0) is no slouch himself. Still the 28-year-old Cirkunov is a 9-1 favourite with some oddsmakers to win.

Cirkunov’s ties to Xtreme Couture are strong, given he was one of its first employees. But now that he’s in the UFC, he has cut back on teaching.

“Now it’s very very serious,” he said. “I take my training on a different level now. I’m in 10 times better shape than I was in my debut in the UFC. I’m just very excited and I want to see how far I can go in the sport. And I’m just enjoying the journey.”

Saturday’s card at the MGM Grand Garden Arena was originally slated to be UFC 196, a pay-per-view event. But it was turned into a televised Fight Night card when both headliners — heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum, and former title-holder Cain Velasquez — pulled out due to injury.

The main event now features former welterweight champion Johny (Bigg Rigg) Hendricks, currently ranked second among 170-pound contenders, against No. 8 Stephen (Wonderboy) Thompson.

Cirkunov, a black belt in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, says the fight being on television just means more people get to watch him.

Cirkunov has come a long way to get to the UFC.

Growing up in Riga, Latvia, Cirkunov got into judo via a friend. Big for his age, he was pitted against older kids. It made for a rough beginning but, rather than sulking, he dedicated himself to getting better.

He found exercising was addictive. To this day, he goes for a workout when he feels down. “And after that I feel like a million bucks.”

Sports remained a welcome tonic when his family came to Canada. As a 12-year-old, he didn’t speak the language and knew no one. “I had nothing and I was really depressed,” he recalled.

But he met a fellow student who spoke Russian and was into judo. Cirkunov was introduced to a judo club at a YMCA whose facilties left him in awe.

“Once I saw it, I couldn’t believe it. I just wanted to live there.”

Cirkunov won a junior national judo title but his progress was stalled by lack of citizenship. Money was also tight, so he couldn’t afford to go to tournaments.

A new door opened when he switched high schools and met Mitch Chuvalo, son of former boxing star George Chuvalo and a teacher at Western Tech, who introduced him to wrestling.

Cirkunov excelled, winning national freestyle and Greco-Roman junior titles — and got to go to the world junior championships after getting his citizenship. After high school, he moved to Las Vegas to train and was introduced to Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

“And that was it,” he said.

In 2008 he won the Pan Jiu-Jitsu No-Gi Championship at the black-belt level, defeating Andre Gusmao.

“Literally three months later he went three rounds with (future UFC light-heavyweight champion) Jon Jones,” said Cirkunov. “At that time I knew if he was able to do that and I was able to choke him out, that I do have a future (in MMA).”

More struggles lay ahead. He overextended himself by opening his own gym. It lasted two years. “We almost made it.” he said.

On the plus side, Cirkunov had plenty of time to work on his striking with Leo Bondar, a friend and talented boxer.

Still his dream was slow to come. When a fight did happen, he sometimes only made $500. And while he usually won, he often took his lumps on social media.

“You dedicate your whole life to it (MMA) and people just laugh at you,” he recalled.

His ticket into the UFC proved to be a first-round KO via head kick of former UFC fighter Rodney Wallace in January 2015.

“That fight really opened up my eyes and really kind of gave me that light at the end of the tunnel. I could gauge myself and compare myself to the other guys in the UFC. And I think I can compare pretty good.”

Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter