Las Vegas, NV — Believe it or not, Da’Mon Blackshear actually anticipated the sort of victory he came away with at UFC Vegas 78.
“There’s a lot of visualization before I step out in the cage. I was hoping for a flawless victory, and I got it,” Blackshear (14-5-1) said following a submission win over Jose Johnson on Saturday’s preliminary card.
Not just any submission, mind you. Blackshear pulled off the rarely-seen Twister, just the third time that particular move has been pulled of in the UFC.
“I went in to try to get the Twister, I had to readjust my grip a couple times, because he pushed it over his head, I ended up going for a rear-naked choke kind of grip. I ended up trying to slide it up to his temple to kind of like crush his spine,” Blackshear recalled, walking media outlets including Cageside Press through the submission.
While he was putting the pressure on, Blackshear’s thought process was that “I’ve got to break this dude’s spine to make him tap.” The tap came, and Blackshear’s name went in the history books.
Making history was exactly what Da’Mon Blackshear had in mind, he later explained. “It was definitely something I wanted to do. I wanted to make history. Whether it was throwing the most strikes, or anything. I made history, so it’s good.”
The Twister was also more likely to earn him a post-fight bonus, especially given some stuff competition on Saturday. “I knew what kind of card I was on. A lot of bangers on there,” noted Blackshear. “Even the fight before mine, they were throwing down. So I was like, a Twister will definitely get me 50Gs. So that’s what I aimed for.”
In the end, he did collect a Performance bonus. So what will he do with the money? “Pay my taxes,” quipped Blackshear.
As for a return date, he’d like that “as soon as possible. October is what I’m shooting for. Brady Hiestand tagged me in a post saying he wanted to get back in there in October after he healed up. So I’m ready to take him on.”
Hiestand was Blackshear’s originally scheduled opponent at UFC Vegas 78, so the booking makes plenty of sense.
Watch the full UFC Vegas 78 post-fight press conference with Da’Mon Blackshear above.
