\n<\/p>\n
There may have been a little tension between Ilimbek Akylbek and Mehemmedeli Osmanli during their time on TUF 34, but Akylbek isn\u2019t interested in turning Saturday night into some personal grudge match.<\/p>\n
As the two get ready to settle things inside the cage, Akylbek says Osmanli presents some interesting challenges, but nothing he hasn\u2019t prepared for before.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything\u2019s going great. It\u2019s going happily right now. We\u2019re really welcoming this opportunity,\u201d Akylbek told Cageside Press on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not the first time I\u2019m on such a big stage with such a big fight. Everything\u2019s alright.\u201d<\/p>\n
Akylbek admitted there was a little tension between the two during sparring for TUF 34, but he\u2019s not trying to turn it into some personal beef. Whatever happened in the gym stays there, and now he just wants to settle everything inside the cage.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah there was a little bit of a conflict at the end of the season, but it was during the sparring,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing personal to me. It\u2019s not something I want to say that it\u2019s a personal thing between me and him. I want to call it just specifically sports, sometimes things like that happen in sports, in training, in sparring. My job is to come out there in the octagon and make sure I answer all the questions and take the victory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t say that he\u2019s the toughest opponent that I\u2019ve had. I think maybe people are singling him out because he\u2019s tall, he\u2019s a lefty, maybe that\u2019s why. He\u2019s kind of a little awkward. In that way, potentially,\u201d said Akylbek.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2019m not singling him out as somebody who\u2019s tougher than the other opponents that I had. I think that every opponent is tough, every fight is important, I prepared for all of them. My job is to come out there and get the victory by any means necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n