San Diego, CA — After competing on Dana White’s Contender Series and making his UFC debut in an empty venue, Azamat Murzakanov (11-0) is excited to fight in front of fans this Saturday at UFC San Diego.
Speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press during Wednesday’s media day, the undefeated Russian said via translator that “You know, actually, since Contenders I wanted to have an audience. I love to fight with the audience. The fight before this one, the Contender fight, I wanted to have the audience. So I’m very excited. I love it with the people, the crowd, to fight [in front of them].”
Murzakanov has been paired up with Devin Clark at Saturday’s Fight Night event, and like a 2006 Georges St-Pierre, is not impressed with his opponent’s recent performances.
“To be honest with you, I watched a couple of his fights, and I didn’t see anything impressive,” Murzakanov replied when asked about Clark. “Nothing impressed me from his performance.”
The fact that Clark recently moonlighted as a heavyweight “doesn’t mean anything,” he said moments later. “I’m used to this type of opponent.”
The bottom line is that Azamat Murzakanov expects a finish this Saturday. “I think the fight is not going to go to a decision. This is what I think,” he stated.
In the meantime, the Russian is happy to be fighting for the second time in 2022, after missing all of 2020, and fighting just once in 2021.
“Yes, this is what we want. To stay active, to be active, we want it to be this way. Finally it looks to be back to normal now,” he told Cageside Press. “A lot of times, people ask me ‘why don’t you fight at middleweight, why don’t you move down to middleweight’ and stuff. But that’s one of the reasons I don’t want to go there, because I can fight often, stay active, fight all the time. I don’t have to cut much weight, and just fight light heavyweight.”
Watch the full UFC San Diego media day scrum with Azamat Murzakanov above. The event takes place this Saturday, August 13, 2022 at the Pechanga Arena in San Diego, California.
