Dubai: American mixed martial artist Bob ‘The Beast' Sapp enjoyed his week-long training stint in Dubai two months ago so much, that he has returned to get in shape for a fight in Germany next weekend.
The 36-year-old flew in to the emirate a few days ago and has already begun an intense training regime under The Champion Club chief instructor Prince Amir who will be in Sapp's corner for his super heavyweight kickboxing bout against German Florian ‘Faust' Pavic on August 26.
Sapp who has juggled cameo acting roles in Hollywood flicks alongside his fighting career has been busy promoting his latest film, Conan the Barbarian which releases in the United States on Friday. He had described his light training stint with Prince Amir, a former three-time world kickboxing champion, in June as a way of getting in shape to help promote the film which bears no relation to the ‘80s flick of the same name.
Sapp said the fight on the World Kickboxing Association stage would not have transpired had it not been for his training with Prince Amir. "The promoters heard about the Hollywood premiere and that I had been training with Prince Amir," Sapp told XPRESS. "I'm very lucky in that regard because the opportunity to fight in Germany only came about due to my decision to come and train with Amir.
"After getting the offer, Amir said if I was doing a serious fight, I was more than welcome to come back and train with him. I thought about it and said ‘sure'. It's great to be back here," added the 6'4" giant.
Sapp said he will have added incentive to win against Pavic as it could open the door to more fights in Germany which he would use to promote Dubai-based fighters. "If I win this one, I'll have another two to three fights in Germany. So I'll be able to train here in Dubai for longer periods and take some of the fighters here with me to fight in Germany."
