Christian Eckerlin laughs modestly erstwhile asked if helium feels helium has contributed to Brighton's success.
Last season, the 39-year-old MMA combatant was brought successful by the Premier League club to assistance with their grooming for set-pieces.
Eckerlin was a nonrecreational footballer successful Germany earlier transitioning to MMA, and says helium taught Brighton players "wrestling, caput control, hep control, and however to propulsion backmost against opponents".
Days earlier this interrogation with Eckerlin took place, the Seagulls moved up to 3rd successful the Premier League aft beating champions and set-piece kings Arsenal 3-0.
Eckerlin is speedy to play down the interaction of his proposal for the Brighton players, but admits his grooming "opened doors" for them.
"The Premier League is much physical, much aggressive, and they don't cognize however to usage their body," Eckerlin told BBC Sport.
"Brighton sent maine videos of however they defend, and they did thing with their hips and arms.
"I taught them archetypal successful the weightlifting room, past the pitch, and it worked. This is what I did, I opened doors for them."
Eckerlin was a nonrecreational footballer from 2005 to 2009, playing for SV Darmstadt successful the 3rd tier of German shot astatine the highest of his career.
As a youngster, Eckerlin ever wanted to play for the squad helium supports, Eintracht Frankfurt, but believed his imagination was implicit erstwhile helium near the sport.
Little did helium cognize that MMA, and specifically European promotion Oktagon, would assistance marque his imagination of performing determination travel true.
In 2024, Eckerlin bushed chap German Christian Jungwirth astatine Frankfurt's Deutsche Bank Park successful beforehand of astir 60,000 fans successful the most-attended MMA lawsuit of the year.
On Saturday, Eckerlin returns to the stadium besides known arsenic the Waldstadion for a 2nd clip to look the Czech Republic's David Kozma astatine Oktagon 94 with astir 60,000 expected erstwhile again.
"It was my archetypal dream, erstwhile I was successful the Waldstadion erstwhile I was six oregon 7 with my uncle. It was the imagination for maine to play determination but I thought the occurrence went out," says Eckerlin.
"I cannot archer you successful words what this means to me. The biggest happening successful my career. And present for the 2nd time... crazy.
"I'm astatine the extremity of my career, I'm 39, truthful this is possibly my past fight. There's nary amended mode to halt warring successful my backyard, you know."
English (US)·