For the first time after the match with champ Rico Verhoeven, Mladen Brestovac is to step into the ring once again at FFC 24 Daytona Beach, June 3, where he is to fight Steven Banks whom he knows from before.

“I know him from before. He is quite experienced and he fought all around he world. He is tall and very heavy. He weights some 130 kilos so I expect he will be sluggish and slow, but I have to have respect his punch and power and I believe he will be smart in this match,” said Brestovac about his new  opponent.

Despite the fact that he fought the best fighter recently, Brestovac is aware that he might as well be threatened by his opponent.

“Every opponent is special and I prepare for each of them specially. You cannot fight the best and then say that the next one will be easy. In order to be ready any time, you have to prepare in a different way both physically and mentally.”

What about Banks?

“It will be a three-round match and I haven’t fought like that in a long time. All my last matches were three rounds so I paid more attention to power and explosiveness and less to endurance.”

Brestovac has been in the FFC from the very beginning and now he is to fight at FFC in the US…

“It is quite surprising. I am glad Mr. Orsat Zovko decided to take such a bold step and go to the US. That is now really very difficult to make. The first two events will be in Florida and in Massachusetts. We’ll see how that goes. I somehow have the feeling that this could be good. It might grow into something big.”

Final Fight Championship will hold two USA events in June that might bring some refreshment to the US kickboxing scene, as Mladen said: “US audience is focused on boxing and MMA so kickboxing will be something new , something between the two. It is not mainstream, but this is changing with time and people are getting to know the stars when it comes to this sport.”