Las Vegas, NV — Slovak heavyweight Marin Buday had three straight wins inside the octagon heading into UFC Vegas 78 on Saturday.
Now, the 31-year old has one more — and his first finish on the big stage.
“I wanted a finish so bad, and now I was successful. I’m very happy. I trained hard for this fight, and I wanted to get a finish, first finish in the UFC,” Buday (13-1) told media outlets including Cageside Press following the bout. “I’m very happy that I was [able to] succeed.”
The end came via submission, with Buday forcing Josh Parisian to tap to a kimura in the opening round. The big man always knew he was capable of getting the stoppage, there were just issues in previous bouts.
“Last fight, previous fights were different, because I had always something, some injury, little injury or something like that. This fight, I was 100%,” Buday explained. “100% healthy and 100% ready. Improved some things in camp. I’m still a young fighter, with a career. I’m improving every camp. We are skyrocketing up.”
In the octagon after his big win, Martin Buday said he was open to a ranked opponent next, but backstage, he clarified that he’ll fight anyone.
“I can accept the ranked opponent, but I can take unranked. As I said, I’m a young fighter and I need some experience. We will see. If a ranked opponent pops up, I will take that challenge. But if not, I’m 100% sure that I’ll take an unranked opponent.”
As for when or where he’d like to fight next, “I want to fight one more time this year. I don’t have a particular date or place,” said Buday, who just wants to fight.
Watch the full UFC Vegas 78 post-fight press conference with Martin Buday above.
