Impa Kasanganay won his debut UFC fight and looks good to continue his winning streak
Bryan Barberena was the latest guest to appear on the Blood, Sweat and Tears podcast.
The American is set to return to action after almost a year out. Barberena faces Anthony Ivy in a week’s time, however, he also spoke of his “brother” Impa Kasanganay.
The 26-year-old Kasanganay is undefeated in his MMA career and is 8-0. Kasanganay also made quite a mark by beating Maki Pitolo in his first UFC clash.
He was on Dana White’s Contender Series in 2019 and won that fight but only got his contract after winning in the series in 2020.
Barberena had only glowing praise for Kasanganay and expected big things from him:
“Kid’s a stud man, he is my man. I love Impa, he is like my brother. We are super, super close. His family is my family, he is my family, man.
“That is how close we are. We are brothers for sure. We are super close. I was just proud of him.
“The fight was great. I thought it was the fight of the night, they both threw heavy leather. Impa is just super gifted, he is super disciplined, super motivated, dedicated, consistent.”
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Always looking to grow
The 31-year-old also spoke about the hunger that Kasanganay had in him. Kasanganay always would come into the gym looking to improve and also tried to learn from everyone in the gym:
“He is a student of the game 100%. He should have gotten signed then [From Contender Series].
“He didn’t have a fight in between because of Covid, but he improved so much. The kid is a handful man, a handful.”
While Kasanganay has a bright future ahead of him, Barberena was hoping to put on a great show in his next fight.
The 31-year-old highlighted that Chuck Liddell was his favourite UFC fighter while growing up. He also claimed that he was big into football during high school but got hooked to MMA after watching UFC on the TV.
Barberena believed that Ivy was a “tough” opponent and this matchup was great. However, he was excited getting into the Octagon and had undergone a lot of tough training to ensure he is in perfect shape.
This was an exclusive interview from Blood, Sweat and Tears. For more exclusive interviews and content please follow the link.
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