Las Vegas, NV – UFC bantamweight Said Nurmagomedov scored his fourth consecutive victory at UFC Vegas 66 when he defeated Saidyokub Kakhramonov via submission on Saturday night.
Nurmagomedov (17-2) finished his fight against Kakhramonov, but still didn’t feel great about his performance.
“To be honest not very happy with the performance. I mean, it wasn’t going my way in the first round at all. I got really, really tired. I threw that guillotine in and it wasn’t working. Just nothing was going my way and only by the second round was I able to find my footing and dictate the pace and everything else,” Nurmagomedov told Cageside Press among other media through a translator at his post-fight scrum.
In between rounds Nurmagomedov’s corner was very intense and telling him what he needed to do in the second round.
“They kept on telling me to get up. They told me a lot of things, but the main thing was get up and start wrestling yourself. Start dictating the pace, but it was hard to do what they were saying. I’m not sure why, but the first round was just not mine whatsoever,” he said.
“Then in the second I started listening better and doing what they said.”
Kakhramonov was very aggressive to start the fight choosing to take the fight to Nurmagomedov forcing him to make some adjustments between rounds.
“What I was trying to do is I was trying to get my footing under me. The thing that surprised me was the pace I mean he ran after me like a bull right from the very beginning, started wrestling, so I went to defense and I grabbed him in that guillotine. I must have extracted too much of my own power because I heard him gurgling,” said Nurmagomedov.
“I heard him gurgling so much that I thought that’s it he’s going to sleep. I maybe even relaxed a little bit and felt that the fight was mine already and he was able to fight through it. In the second one when I got the chance to do the guillotine I said there’s no way I’m letting go no matter what happens.”
With this being the least event of the year Nurmagomedov looked ahead to 2023.
“This year was great for me. I had three fights and I think this year was wonderful. Next year what I want to do is I want to do the same, maybe have 3-4 fights. I’d love to come back in early March if possible,” he said.
“Have 3-4 fights. That’s the goal.”
Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Said Nurmagomedov above.
