UFC Vegas 58: Saidyokub Kakhramonov Describes Emotional Reaction, Wants Garbrandt

Las Vegas, NV – UFC bantamweight Saidyokub Kakhramonov kicked off UFC Vegas 58 with a unanimous decision victory over Ronnie Lawrence on Saturday night.

A victory in the biggest MMA promotion on the planet is pretty good, but criticism comes regardless of results. Kakhramonov took a phone call just before he sat down with the media for his post-fight scrum.

“My dad just told me, ‘You took kind of long’. He said ‘You fought heavy, I thought you were going to finish in the first round.’,” Kakhramonov told Cageside Press among other media.

“I told him I just wanted 25 minutes in there. It’s been 10 months. I just needed cage time. I wanted to see if I would get tired, but I could have gone two more rounds easy.”

A 10-month layoff would drive any fighter crazy, but for Kakhramonov it was a very emotional return to the cage.

“I was so emotional before the fight. I cried like five times when I was in the back. I was tearing up. I don’t know I was so f*cking emotional. I feel like it was my debut because last time it was short notice I didn’t even get to feel anything. This time I had no excuse. I trained 10 months. If something goes wrong what’s my excuse going to be? I think it was such an emotional fight for me. I just want to thank God that today was my day,” Kakhramonov said.

Coming into Saturday night Kakhramonov entered the cage as the underdog in the odds yet went on to dominate the fight.

“I made so many people rich. You don’t understand, I made so many people f*cking rich. People were sending me screenshots. They bet on me 8k, 10k, 15k. This dude bet on me 50K in Brooklyn. He made hella money. The whole country, my city, everybody made hella money,” said Kakhramonov.

With now two wins under the UFC banner the next opponent for Kakhramonov would ideally be someone with a name or some hype behind them.

“You know I’ve been talking to my coach. All due respect, Cody Garbrandt, I love that guy. He was a champion when he was 26. He was someone that I looked up to. If I fight him, If they give me that opportunity, It’d be an honor for me,” Kakhramonov said of a possible fight with ‘No Love’.

“No disrespect. It’d be an honor for me. We can do it in Abu Dhabi. August 6th, bring me back. Terrance McKinney fighting August 6th. Me and him on the same card…it’s going to be amazing.”

Watch the full UFC Vegas 58 post-fight press appearance from Saidyokub Kakhramonov above. More coverage from the event can be found below.