Mladen Brestovac, headliner of the kickboxing part of the FFC 24 event and FFC heavyweight champ has a certain opinion about FFC’s debut in the US. He also revealed what he thinks about his opponent this Friday in Daytona Beach.

It has been two months now since he fought for the Glory heavyweight title against Rico Verhoeven.

I have nothing to say that I did not say before. Rico is in top shape and he did an amazing match. I did my best. Maybe I could have done better, you can always do better and it’s always easy to spot mistakes afterwards. I was also a bit nervous, but as the match went on I was more relaxed as well as tired because he imposed brutal rhythm. If it comes to rematch someday, I’m sure I will know what to expect.

This Friday Brestovac is to headline the kickboxing part of the FFC 24 event in Daytona Beach which will also be FFC’s US debut.

That’s a very bold move. I do not know if any European promotion dared to make an event in the US and succeeded. It looks good so far, especially because it will be broadcasted live on some TVs, which is very hard to achieve. If these two events prove to be successful, the project will go on and it will definitely be financially more cost effective then.

First two FFC events will take place in cities where the elite promotions never organized their events. Tactically, it is a smart move.

America is a huge market, but people are not familiar with kickboxing that much yet. However, boxing in very popular as well as MMA. This is why FFC will put more emphasis on MMA, which is only logical. It is important to include local fighters and some local stars that the audience will come to support. Local audience will always be more interested in local fighters, not in foreign stars. I hope FFC will include some good American fighters who will join their roster in the longer run.

Mladen’s opponent will be US fighter Steven banks who fights both in MMA and kickboxing disciplines.

I do not know much about him, I just watched some matches on YouTube. He is an experienced fighter who fought in many big promotions. He defeated some famous fighters, but also lost some matches. That’s all I know about him.

I will have a game plan for this match because my goal is always to feel the ring and to feel the fight. The longer you are in the ring, your matches are longer and with time you simply become more relaxed and you feel better in the ring. I will not force a KO because I like being in the ring. But if I see an opportunity to hit him and knock him down, of course I will seize it.

Along with FFC, Brestovac still has a deal with Glory.

No one contacted me yet and I haven’t seen anyone. I had doping control after the match so I stayed long at the venue and I went back home early next morning. But I believe they will call me since I still have a contract with them. I leave this kinda stuff to Mr Zovko, he will know what’s the best option.

At FFC 24 in Daytona Beach this Friday, Mladen will defend his FFC heavyweight title.

We’ll see how the event’s gonna go in the US. If all goes well, I will probably get a new chance to fight in the US. I do not think about it yet, I just wanna do this match.