Muslim Salikhov has been waiting what feels like ages to finally step into the UFC octagon against Randy Brown.
The pair were originally booked for UFC 296 in December, only for Brown to withdraw due to illness roughly a day out from the fight.
They will finally meet, if all goes according to plan, as part of the UFC Vegas 85 main card in Las Vegas this Saturday.
“I’m excited for this fight. I prepared almost five months for this fight; a long time it [did] not happen,” Salikhov (19-4) stated during this week’s UFC Vegas 85 media day. “I hope this time we will fight, and we will show a very beautiful fight for everyone.”
Salikhov’s reaction to the original fight being cancelled so close to Fight Night “was everything,” he added. “I was angry, I was upset. I was on the way to the sauna, it was [the] last pounds, and they say ‘he’s sick, he can’t fight.’ Then you have to just go eat. I was upset.”
The rescheduled date, seven weeks out from its initial booking, offered its own issues, meanwhile. Nor was it easy waiting that long for Muslim Salikhov, who at nearly 40 is closer to the end of his career than the beginning.
“It’s difficult but I did a full camp for almost three months before December. I worried that maybe it’s going to be like overtraining, but it’s okay, it is what it is, said Salikhov, noting that the UFC had initially suggested an earlier date. “They said they will reschedule fight for maybe January’s first event, but it [didn’t] happen because he was still sick. Everyone’s sick, I understand this. I see everyone in Las Vegas sick. I agree with this, and just waited for the fight.”
The age factor is a factor, of course, though Salikhov says he isn’t focused on that just yet.
“I’m still not thinking about it. I’m good, I feel that I’m still in shape. Sometimes I’m better than young fighters. It’s okay. 39, it’s just – in MMA I’m just beginning. I’ve not fought a lot of fights. Yeah, 20, it’s already a lot but K-1 career I have so many fights, and I’m a little bit tired after K-1, like 70 fights.”
“For MMA, especially in UFC, I feel like I’m beginning. Just I don’t know, I’m not tired to do it,” he added, before laughing at the suggestion he might fight another decade. “Maybe two, three years more.”
Watch the full UFC Vegas 85 media day appearance by Muslim Salikhov above.
