After two years from his first match, one of the best European kickboxers Enver Šljivar is to fight in the FFC ring again. His match will take place at FFC 26 event in Linz, Austria and his opponent will be Croatia’s Tomislav Čikotić.

Šljivar made his debut in the best regional promotion in September 2014, when he stepped in on short notice and defeated experienced Croatian kickboxer Igor Mihaljević. This match secured him new FFC bouts but despite some negotiations and matches already scheduled, Šljivar has not step into the FFC ring for two long years.

Now he is finally to fight in Linz in heavyweight division against Tomislav Čikotić, known for real wars in the ring.

You had your first and last FFC match in September 2014 when you defeated Igor Mihaljević. After that you did not fight at the FFC but you had other matches. Can you tell us more about it?

Yes, it’s been two years since I fought at the FFC Futures 3 against Mihaljević. I was very pleased because I have proved myself and I defeated my opponent. After that there were several scheduled matches, but something always went wrong and they ended up cancelled. Now I will finally have a chance to prove myself in Linz again.

Since I fought in Zagreb, I had a lot of fights, and I fought in SuperKombat. It was all broadcasted on Eurosport. This helped me to gain a little more popularity. In April 2015 I won the WPKC world title after I KO’ed Ireland’s Chris Cooper. After that I also had a lot of matches and wins. This year I won the WKO title when I KO’ed famous Luca Panto in the fifth round. I am very proud of that but now I am completely focused on FFC and my goal is to win.

Your last big title was WKU title that you won in Zurich. What are your future plans regarding that belt?

After this FFC match I’m planning to fight at WKU again where I want to defend that title. But I have to see about other champs and maybe challenge them as well. Of course, I will wait and I will be ready and open for all the offers that could boost my career.

What is your professional score at the moment?

I did 32 matches and I have 29 wins and 3 losses. But I every time I lost, I lost via judges’ decision. I have 18 KO wins. I hope I will continue to win and improve my score.

You were chosen the best Swiss athlete in 2015. How much does it mean to you having in mind the fact that you’re not originally Swiss?

That title meant a lot to me, especially because I’m not originally Swiss but I got most of the votes. That only gave me additional motivation never to give up. It meant that it does not matter who you are and where you come from if you do your best and try to be the best version of you. And this was rewarded. That gained me additional popularity in Switzerland and people started to greet me and talk to me about my career. U hope I will have more successful results that I will be proud of.

Now you will fight in heavyweight division against 15 cm taller Tomislav Čikotić. How are you preparing and what do you know about your opponent?

Of course I know he is 15 cm taller, that he is experienced and tough. But I’m not scared at all. Everything I know about him motivates me to do better. It will be a big challenge for me and I will try to prove myself in the FFC. I want to prove I’m worth the attention and that I came to stay. I can promise you that it will be a good match.

Despite the fact that you’ve been in Switzerland for a long time, people in Bosnia follow your career. You always have Bosnian flag behind you…

I am glad that people in Bosnia follow my career and that they are proud of me, especially since I always enter the ring with Bosnian flag. It means a lot to me that Bosnian media report about me as well as other media in the region. They bring me closed to the people there.