Wales’ top bantamweight prospect Jack Shore is looking for an early night this weekend, as he plans on finishing his UFC Vegas 36 opponent.
“They all keep pulling out; I don’t know what’s been going on. We can’t get anyone locked down…in four UFC fights, I have had 10 different names. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know if it’s the new haircut, or if it’s the fact I’m from Wales, the wrestling, I don’t know.”
That was Jack “Tank” Shore, who just 12 hours prior found out that he had another new opponent while he was on his way to Las Vegas.
The Welsh fighter has not had the best luck locking down a single opponent. In fact, in his three fights inside the Octagon, his last opponent Hunter Azure has been the only one to make it an 18-week training camp without pulling out.
Shore was scheduled to make his fourth appearance in the octagon at UFC Vegas 36 against another top prospect, Said Nurmagomedov. When Nurmagomedov pulled out of the fight, Shore told Cageside Press he was “gutted”; however, he had to move on because he was going to fight on the card no matter what. He was next offered undefeated Georgian Zviad Lazishvili, who is the LFA bantamweight champion.
Shore was on his way to Vegas, and when he had a layover in Dallas, Texas, he got the text from his manager that Lazishvili was out of the fight.
“Obviously, straight away I was seeing red, I’m furious. I’m like, ‘what do you mean he has pulled out? He accepted the fight a week ago; how has he pulled out?’ [My manager said] ‘don’t worry about it, we just need to worry about a replacement,'” Shore said.”
“I was scrambling because I wanted to fight on the 4th. I trained to fight on the 4th. I’m here in Vegas; I don’t want to be one of those guys who have to spends weeks on end here because of pullouts. So I was like it has to be the 4th, I’ll go up to featherweight, I’ll do a catchweight, whatever.”
Thankfully, Shore got a fight as he wanted: Liudvik Sholinian, who recently competed on The Ultimate Fighter season 29.
“Tank” likes the match-up but he feels he has fought better guys and will finish him in the first or second round.
“I think it’s a good match-up. He has good wrestling; he comes forward, applies a lot of forward pressure. He’s not the best striker, but he comes forward. I just think class-wise, I’ve fought guys that where there is nothing he is going throw at me that I already haven’t seen before. I’ve fought guys that are better-level wrestlers and better strikers than him. Wherever the fight goes and wherever he wants to fight the fight, it will play into my hands,” Shore said.
“I’m going for a first or second-round finish. I’m confident in this one. Whether it be on the feet or the ground.”
Watch the rest of the interview with Jack Shore above, where he talks about his last fight with Hunter Azure, possibly being under-promoted, his fans, what is next, and more about multiple pull-outs.
