A screenshot taken at the end of Ryan Rohovich's successful fight at BFL 72. (Facebook)

By Nigel Maxwell

MMA

Rohovich returns to the cage at BFL 75

Nov 30, 2022 | 2:01 PM

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 2:35p.m. to include quotes from Rohovich.

Prince Albert’s Ryan Rohovich is getting ready to rumble and show the crowd the type of fighter he actually is.

The accomplished MMA fighter, who trains at North Wake Martial Arts, will face Abbotsford’s Gagan Gill Thursday night at Battlefield Fight League 75. The event will take place at the the Harbour Convention Centre in Vancouver.

Rohovich had been scheduled to arrive Tuesday, but due to weather-related issues, his flight did not leave until early Wednesday morning. His weigh-ins were originally scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

“There’s always pressure coming out here because I’m always fighting the hometown guy, I’m always up against the crowd,” he said. “At the same time everyone is expecting the same Ryan as last time and I’m gonna go and show them that wasn’t even me.”

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Rohovich’s current pro record is 5-4 and he is coming off a big win in April when he forced Josh “the Juggernaut” Kwiatkowski to tap out with just with 35 seconds left in the fight. Until the moment Rohovich had been down in points and would have likely lost by unanimous decision.

The night to the prior to the fight, Rohovich had been hospitalized with stomach related issues and was still only around 50 per cent when it came time to enter the cage.

“I don’t think anyone really realized the severity if it. It was probably the most sick I’ve ever been in my life. A lot of the guys here out here don’t even know that even happened and now everybody is judging me based on my last performance which is good because everybody was backing out before and now they’ve seen my last performance and everybody wants to fight me now,” he said.

The man who will be standing on the opposite side of the cage Thursday night is ranked 33rd in Canada out of 89 active Canada Pro Lightweights. Gill’s last fight was in October when he beat Adam De Freitas at BFL 74. For this fight, Rohovich moves up a weight class from featherweight to lightweight.

“It was a smooth transition because I was walking around a lot lighter when I did fight at 145, and then I switched my diet, and now I am walking around heavier, with more muscle,” he said.

The event Thursday night will be streamed exclusively on UFC FIGHT PASS.

(Battlefield Fight League)

Main Card:

Caio Machado (6-1-1) C vs. Edison Lopes (11-7) HW TITLE
Navid Zanganeh (1-0) C vs. Dario Sinagoga (6-0) LW TITLE
Matt Dwyer (11-7) vs. Christophe Vandijck (8-5) INT MW TITLE
Saeid Mirzaei (3-1-1) vs. Hamza Salim (6-5)MW
Mitch Strazella (2-0) vs. Regina’s Austin Russell (3-1) BW
Gagan Gill (4-2) vs. Ryan Rohovich (5-4) LW
Oguzhan Yalcin (2-1) vs. Blake Sigvaldason (3-3) BW
Keanan Kellar (2-2) vs. Keanan Patershuk (1-0) MW

Undercard: (AM)

Daniel Abdenour (2-0) vs. Nelson Spreeu (0-2) LW TITLE
Valentin Bulat (4-0) vs. Radek Knop 150 KB TITLE
Flint Radaske (2-4) vs. Brett Jackson (2-1) LW
Melvin Panganiban (2-0) vs. Elia Farragalla (0-1) FW
Dylan Foerster (1-0) vs. Mykl Drabluk (0-0) GB Vernon 160lb
Cannon Tass (1-1) vs. Lycidas Allen Crow (0-0) WW
Mulife Muchali (1-0) vs. Kamal Gadzhialieve (0-0) WW
Kenny Lee (0-0) vs. Brandon Briglio (0-0) 130lbs
Maurice Dacquel (0-0) vs. Quinn Meldrum (0-0) BW
Zac Shepert (0-0) universal vs. Ben Liu (0-0) Standup 160lb KB

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell