Heading into his last fight, at UFC on ESPN 10 back in June, Tyson Nam believed he was fighting for his job. Fighting against a pink slip, essentially.
Following UFC Vegas 11 this past weekend, Nam (20-11-1) not only has a job, he has his first win streak in the UFC. That’s thanks to finishes of both Zarrukh Adashev, and now Jerome Rivera.
Suddenly, Nam can breathe a little sigh of relief.
“It feels good. I feel like I might be getting a couple more dollars on top of my next fight,” Nam told media outlets backstage at the UFC Apex following his win on Saturday. “So that will definitely feel really good.”
His UFC Vegas 11 showing had Nam going into the second round, before getting the TKO victory against a much taller, lankier opponent. But Nam was well prepared, expecting the sort of attack Rivera brought with him. Despite the short-notice nature — Nam was originally booked last week against Matt Schnell — he believes his team worked up a pretty good game plan. “I knew that he was going to use a lot of kicks,” said Nam. “He was very tall for a flyweight, or a bantamweight.”
With a bit of steam behind him, Nam is ready for a step up in competition. A big one, if he gets his way. Saturday, he called out none other than Joseph Benavidez.
“He’s a legend. He’s been top 3, top 5 for well over a decade,” observed Nam. “We share a common opponent, we’re similar in age, and I feel that would just be an awesome fight.”
