UWC 16-Stav Economou talks beating Bob Sapp and fighting Phil Defries

Stav Economou

Back last year we spoke to Stav Economou about his upcoming BAMMA 4 bout with Bob Sapp. Unfortunately that card fell victim to the snow and it seemed that The Crazy Bear wasn't going to get to fight The Beast but as it turned out they did meet, but in a country where the weather couldn't have been much further removed from the blizzards and snow drifts that spoiled their BAMMA meeting.

The bout finally happened in Abu Dhabi at ADFC- Round 3 in March of this year with Economou putting a beating on the man who twice defeated K-1 legend Ernesto Hoost and had an epic battle with Big Nog. Stav took The Beast down and TKO'd him with punches at 1.45 of the first round, see the full fight after the jump;

Now The Crazy Bear is back in the UK for his next fight at UWC 16 in Southend Essex on July 2nd so we caught up with big Stav to see how he got on in Abu Dhabi, how things have been since beating Sapp, how the beginners Judo videos came about and more!

Thanks for talking to us again, it's been a while! How have things been since you finally got to fight Bob Sapp at ADFC- Round 3, it was an impressive beating you put on the big man!

Things have been good since the fight, I had an amazing time out in Abu Dhabi. ADFC treated me so well and it was a real pleasure for fight over there! After the fight I basically just rested for a couple of weeks then got straight back into training again.

Did the Sapp fight go as you expected?

More or less, although it ended sooner then I had expected. I thought it might of taken me a bit longer to take him down.

After the unfortunate cancellation of BAMMA 4 where you were due to have fought Sapp did you think that the fight with him had slipped away?

To a certain extent. I knew my manager (UKMMA1) was already in talks with ADFC so I had an idea that something could go down but either way I was still gutted that it didn't go down at BAMMA as I really wanted to fight for them

You're back in the UK for your next fight at UWC 16 in Southend Essex on July 2nd any news on who you're fighting yet?

I'm fighting undefeated BJJ purple Belt Phil Defries who's 6-0

How's the training going, been doing anything new? (loved the judo for beginners videos by the way)

Haha, I loved filming that video, cracked us all up! Only thing that's really changed is that I've got new strength 'n conditioning coaches that have really been pushing me hard

The last time you fought for UWC was back in November 2009, how does it feel to be back with them?

It's great, I can't wait. UWC is my home and I love the crowd and atmosphere there plus this is one of the best fight cards UWC have ever had so it's going to be great to be on such a top card.

Are we going to be seeing you fighting with them again after this bout?

Somewhere down the line I'll fight for UWC again, like I said, its my home

UCMMA 21 is this weekend and we've covered that a fair bit, it's full of UK full heavyweights like Oli Thompson, do you fancy taking any of them on?

Of course, I loved fighting for UCMMA and would welcome a chance to fight there again

Of course I have to ask, what colour is your hair going to be for UWC 16?

Just have to wait n find out, I don't even know, its my stylists that decide!

As ever, if you want to give any of your sponsors a shout out feel free

Just want to thank Demon fightwear, Match-Fit & Excel HP for helping with my training gear and helping me with this fight.

course always have to thank my management UKMMA1 and everyone down at TSG for helping prepare for this fight.

In case anyone was wondering, this is how you learn Judo