A UFC debutant has denied that he copied Conor McGregor's famous chest tattoo.
Ukranian fighter Askar Mozharov, who makes his UFC debut this Saturday against Alonzo Menifield in Las Vegas, has ink very similar to McGregor's.
The Notorious had just a few tattoos when he made his UFC debut in 2013, but is now recognised for multiple pieces of ink on his frame. The most noticeable is a large silverback gorilla wearing a crown and holding a heart in its mouth, inked on McGregor's chest.
The piece is a spin-off of his Straight Blast Gym's logo, reports The Mirror.
But Mozharov denied he copied the former two-weight champion, despite being known as 'the Ukrainian Conor McGregor'.
He said: "No this is not Conor McGregor's [tattoo]. Guys, this is the same style, old school but another picture. Actually in my country people know me as the Ukrainian Conor McGregor but this is different, I like Conor but I am Askar."
The Ukrainian admitted preparations for his UFC debut have been tough amid the ongoing Russian invasion in his home country. In a time where many Ukrainian athletes ditched their respective sports to defend their country, Mozharov explained why he didn't do the same.
"It's a very tough time," he said. "A lot of people and athletes ended up going back to protect the country. A lot of my friends suggested, it's much better and easy for me to pursue this path. I have an opportunity to be able to do that and show my country in a better way."
Mozharov's professional record was significantly revised ahead of his debut as new information came to light regarding several wins and losses. It previously read 25-7 but now reads 21-11 after four of his previous wins were changed to losses. Mozharov cited a change in his surname many years ago as reason for the confusion.
"I have spent so much time since the age of 18 fighting professional fights and fighting pretty much anyone I could. I don't build my record but a lot of the fights I had in China, the organisations don't add the fights after so you have to really pursue it to have it on record," he continued.
"This is a situation for the last seven or eight years nobody mentioned or said anything. It's just some situations I had when I started this career, I took some semi-pro fights and I didn't know they were going to be counted on my record."
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