Germany’s Nasrat Haqparast will welcome octagon newcomer Alex Munoz to the UFC this weekend at UFC Vegas 6. It’s a spot that Haqparast himself was in not too long along: still just 24, Haqparast (11-3) is part of the UFC’s “next” generation.
That said, Haqparast has been with the promotion since 2017. A fair amount of experience for the young lightweight. It might be easy, in that sense, to overlook a newcomer, but he’s not about to let that happen.
“I think everybody who is in the UFC deserves to be there. So it’s going to be a good fight,” he said during this week’s virtual media day ahead of UFC Vegas 6. “Everybody’s good. Nowadays, you don’t know what to expect. I just prepare for everybody like it’s the best opponent of my life, it’s the last day of my life, it’s the fight of my life. I take everybody serious. Doesn’t matter if you have one fight or ten fights or not fights in the UFC. So I’m well-prepared.”
Part of that preparation involved a destination fight camp. “We had a very good training camp. We went to Morroco,” Haqparast revealed.
“We had a very strong group, some jiu-jitsu black belts, some Olympic-level wrestlers.” Kickboxers, even a ONE Championship title holder rounded out the group. “We had a good few weeks there. It was amazing times.”
This will be Haqparast’s first fight during the pandemic, which means being faced with an empty arena on Saturday night. “Of course the crowd has different energy, but I just see it as another fight,” he said in regards to the prospect of an empty venue. “It’s just me and my opponent in the cage, and that’s it.”
UFC Vegas 6 takes place Saturday, August 8, airing live on ESPN+ (TSN in Canada).
