Following an exciting fight with Zygimantas Ramaska on the Ultimate Fighter season 32, Bekhzod Usmonov was feeling pretty good about his chances with the UFC. Not only did he put on a fight of the season performance, but he also showed the type of toughness that usually has Dana White salivating. On top of all of that, his opponent was given a shot to compete at the finale dispite also being eliminated.
With all of those things in mind, Usmonov figured his call was coming sooner or later.
“I was expecting the UFC would call me for like short notice or something like that,” Usmonov admitted. “I was cutting my weight and staying ready if something would come.”
When that call didn’t come after a few months, it was time for Usmonov to make a choice. There were a lot of people interested in bringing him into their fold, but he and his management team discussed what made the most sense for his goals. With the dream of being a UFC champion one day, the next move was obvious.
“Always the UFC is watching LFA very carefully,” he said. “We were carefully looking for other organizations that we could do because after the fight I got a lot of offers from different organizations. At one point, my management and my coaches said, ‘we have this one for you and it will be best for you.”
Now in the bantamweight main event of LFA 195, he’s totally focused on the task at hand. However, that doesn’t mean Usmonov doesn’t have a plan for what’s next as well. And that next step involves a change in weight and scenery.
“Our next goal, in the UFC I want to compete in the flyweight division where I can use all of my abilities,” he said. “For 135[lbs] in the UFC, I am a little small… in TUF, I was fighting guys who were way bigger than me… so I think 135lbs this time and after that we’ll see about 125lbs.”
You can catch Usmonov in the cage this Friday as the headliner for LFA 195. He faced Justin Wetzell on UFC Fight Pass with the main card beginning at 10pm EST.
