Las Vegas, NV — Slovak L’udovit Klein’s timing and gas tank looked sharp at UFC 272, despite the short-notice nature of his match-up with Devonte Smith.
Klein (18-4) stepped into the fight to replace Erick “Ghost Pepper” Gonzalez, and wound up taking home a split decision win at the T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.
Klein looked as sharp as he did, at least in part, because he’d stayed ready in the gym, expecting to fight soon.
“I trained two months, every day hard training, because I know I will fight in March,” Klein told Cageside Press following the bout. “This was the first fight [card] in March, and I was ready.”
The weight cut wasn’t much of an issue either, with the match-up coming a weight class higher than Klein’s usual featherweight home. “No, because I’m fighting in 145, and this was in 155,” Klein replied when asked if there were any issues making weight on short notice. “My weight cut was down, I [cut] down on weight 8, 9 kilos.”
Come the scorecards being read, it came down to a split decision — always a dicey prospect for any fighter. And Klein wasn’t surprised to see one judge score it in favor of his opponent. “No, because I know that I win this fight, but he is good. His performance was good, I feel.”
Watch the full UFC 272 post-fight press scrum with L’udovit Klein above. More coverage from the event can be found below.
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Ludovit Klein
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Dustin Jacoby
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Tim Elliott
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Maryna Moroz
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Nicolae Negumereanu
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Joanna Jedrzejczyk
