Finnish mixed martial artist Henri Lintula is one of the welterweight competitors competing for a huge $50,000 prize in the second Cage Warriors Prizefighters event.
The one-night tournament will take place in Glasgow on September 7th and will feature six tough fighters ready to step into the cage twice in one night.
“It’s been a while since I’ve done it at a professional level,” Lintula told Frontkick in an exclusive interview. “To be honest, I’m not really looking forward to it because it’s going to be a really tough night, but I can’t help it.”
The 33-year-old Finn approaches this tournament with the mentality of an old-fashioned professional boxer.
“Fighting twice on the same night is certainly a challenge, but what interests me is the $50,000.”
Henri Lintula takes on a feared KO artist
The Finnish grappling specialist will face lethal knockout artist and Cage Warriors veteran Omiel Brown in the opening round in Glasgow in what is likely to be the most intriguing bout of the tournament, with all the trappings of a classic grappler vs striker match.
“I’ve watched some of his previous fights and he’s a tricky southpaw with a heavy punch,” Rintula says of his English opponent. “All my focus is on him and I’m not too worried about the final.”
What is the difference between training for a tournament like this and training for a regular match?
“I guess the only difference is that we know who our opponent is, so we only have two weeks to prepare for a specific style and come up with a game plan. Other than that, it’s business as usual.”
What it would take to fight Robin Ruth again
In 2019, Lintula faced Swedish powerhouse Robin “Pretty Boy” Ruth at FCR 5 and was able to stop the Swede with an impressive first-round submission.
Five years later, on July 25, 2024, Ruth challenged for the middleweight title in his first fight at Cage Warriors.
Would I allow Ruth to have a rematch?
“Yes, I’ve been following his fights a bit since our fight. He’s a tough opponent and I think it would be a good fight, but it would have to be something like a prizefighter tournament or title fight for me to be really interested.”
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