The reason for Anatoly Tokov’s not the best form in the fight against the reigning Bellator middleweight champion, Johnny Eblin, was sinusitis, due to which the Russian was forced to complete preparations for the title fight with a tube in his nose.
“I spent a week with a temperature – I thought I would die,” Tokov said in an interview with the channel Sport24 after the Bellator 290 tournament. “I came here with a tube in my nose, washed my nose. I had pus accumulating – they made me a puncture before leaving so that I could go. Such a chance fell out – how can you act in film?
“Three weeks before the fight, Tolik had sinusitis,” added Tokov’s teammate Vadim Nemkov. “They pierced his nose, he walked for two weeks with a tube. We flew to America, he still trained for three or four days with a pipe. If Tolik had withdrawn from the fight, it is not known when he would have been given a fight next time. In addition to this pipe, there were many moments that prevented him. He’ll deal with them and come back.”
Recall that the middleweight title fight between Johnny Eblin and Anatoly Tokov, which became the second most important event of the event, went the whole distance and ended in victory for the American by unanimous decision with a score of 50-45 and 49-46 twice.
Source: https://fighttime.ru/news/item/30702-anatolij-tokov-nazval-prichinu-porazheniya-v-boyu-za-titul-bellator.html?rand=19907
