Still, Roach knows what his student is up against. Facing Emelianenko is as much about his legend as his fighting ability.
“If I saw him in the street, I wouldn’t be scared of him,” he says with another smile. “But I’d be wrong.”
“I think Andre’s good at leglocks, from what I can understand,” Roach offers. “He’s a Sambo champion too, so he knows the ground game.”
The two met three years ago through a mutual friend named Billy. Roach recognized Arlovski’s talent, but couldn’t get a feel for him as a person.
“Good sense of humor when you get to know him,” says Roach. “When you don’t know him, you don’t know which way to go with him…he’s dry.”
Roach’s brother Dominic Pepper says the gym has seen an influx of MMA fighters looking to improve their standup skills. It’s not his cup of tea.
“I think it’s boring,” he says, looking unamused. “I saw one fight where the guy just laid on the other guy the whole fight and he won.”
Roach, on the other hand, is committed to solving the riddle of Emelianenko, even if his plan is built on the notion that the Russian stands up.
“As far as his stand up game, we’ll kill him,” says Roach. “If we can keep the fight standing up, if he chooses to fight us like a man, we’ll dominate him.”
“Just be smart with it,” he says. “Use your angles when they’re necessary, but after you land a combination, because after you land a combination with Fedor, he’s going to throw back. That’s his instinct. He throws one punch after the other. He’s very predictable. He makes the same moves every time. He’s very common. His boxing game is weak.”
“His mental side of the game right now is much better than it was when he was with the other guys,” Roach says. “He seems comfortable with Affliction, and they pay him the money he’s supposed to be getting. He’s happier, he’s refocused. He was unhappy with the other people, and he was just kind of going through the motions.”
While Roach’s viewpoint may be limited, he feels his student will triumph.
“From what I can see, I think Andre’s going to be sharper,” he says. “I think we’re going to knock him out.”
