Photo: http://www.dennis-siver.de/

Dennis Siver, a German MMA star and a UFC fighter who faces George Sotiropoulos at UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch in Sydney on 27th Feb tells grapplerINFO.com about how he felt when he first stepped into the cage, who he would like to face in the future and gives prediction on Maciej Jewtuszko's next fight. At the end you will also find his highlight with a legendary music in the background!

Hi Dennis, we really appreciate that you agreed to answer a few questions. Can you please describe how your advanture with sports started? As far as I know you started with kick boxing and judo. How did you begin training MMA?

It is a pleasure! Thank you for your interest! I started with KB and competet a few years I was champion already. But after a while, I wanted to try sth new, sth more exciting and more challaging, so I got interested in MMA.

You are one of the most experienced UFC fighters, with 10 bouts in the organization. You're fighting George Sotiropoulos, everybody knows he has very good ground game. What game plan do you have, can you reveal it a little?

Well, as a Mixed Martial Artist, you have to fight in every dicipline. But I have focused a bit more on the ground game. There is no special game plan, but I feel very confident in stand up, but if it goes to the ground, I will fight there as well.

How is your training camp going? Are you training only in Germany or do you go abroad as well, as for example Peter Sobotta or Pascal Krauss?

Mostly I train in Germany, last year, I was training in Las Vegas, at Randy Cutures Gym. But there are some great Gyms in Germany, where I love to train at.

There have already been two UFC events in Germany. Can you say a few words on how the general public sees MMA in your country? How is this sport popular? Are you a well known person?

If anybody is interested in MMA, they will recognize me. Also, the general acceptance of MMA became better over the years! There are new gyms opening, tournaments are organised and almost 30% of the German population, knows what MMA stands for, thats great!

Now when UFC included featherweight and bantamweight some of the lightweights will go down. Have you ever considered moving to featherweight?

No, I feel great in Lightweight and really want to stay there.

Do you remeber your UFC debut and how you felt going into the cage?

It was a great moment and an honor for me that the UFC has choosen me! I was really excited and my heart was beating so fast. It was like a dream came through!

Assuming that you go through Sotiropoulos is there anyone in the Octagon you would like to face? Maybe some re-match?

I would like to face every opponent I have lost to. Like Gray or Melvin. The fight against Gray was very close and he also knows this. But I will fight anybody the UFC wants me to fight.

You are a specialist in bonuses :) You've earned knockout of the night (twice) fight of the night and submission of the night. Would you rather give an exciting fight and loose or boring fight and win?

My goal is to give an exciting fight and win ;-) So the fans are satisfied!

Certainly you have to be careful with your weight and diet. Can you tell us how much do you weigh between fights and how your diet and supplementation looks like?

My regular weight is around 74/75 Kilo. Durring my preperation, I have an eye on my food. Thats the part I don't like, because I'm almost addicted to cakes and pies :) Also, going to the Sauna is important, before the weight ins.

In 2010 you have been promoted to BJJ purple belt. Do you often train in GI or do you treat this more as a play?

I train in GI ones a week. Training with the Gi makes you really strong and it's harder to escape from a bad position, because your opponent can grab your GI and pin you down. It's not a game, it's really important to improve your ground game.

You are number #1 in the European groundandpound.de ranking, at UFC 127 another fighter in the ranking, #4 Maciej Jewtuszko will have his debut. What do you think are the odds on his win?

I think Maciej can win this! His record is better and he is an aggressive and technical fighter! I have seen some videos of him! I wish him all the best for his debut!

You are famous for your highlight kicks. You must have seen last Anderson's Silva fight. What do you think about the finish?

That kick was amazing! I have never seen a guy got knocked out this heavy with the front kick! Maybe I can use this technique against George, we will see ;-)

Thank you for your time. If you would like to say hi to anybody or thank your sponsors please feel free.

Many thanks to GRAPPLERINFO, many thanks to my fans from Poland and all over the world, to my training partners and to all of my sponsors! Support the sport!

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