Seattle, WA — Bantamweight Ricky Simon pulled out of a three-fight tail spin with a knockout of Javid Basharat at UFC Seattle, and pocketed a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus on top.
It couldn’t have gone much better for Simon (21-6), who lives in Washington state and fights out of nearby Vancouver, WA.
“I thought I was going to have to wrestle a little bit more for sure, but I kept telling myself, ‘what’s the best case scenario? A first round knockout in my home state.’ And yeah, couldn’t have dreamt of a better moment honestly,” Simon told media outlets including Cageside Press following the fight. “It was a dream come true.”
Simon is no stranger to difficult match-ups, and over the years has been paired up with the likes of Urijah Faber, Raphael Assuncao, Ray Borg, and Song Yadong. Basharat, a top prospect in the 135lb division, was another solid test.
“I think the bantamweight division is just so packed, it’s just stacked right now. So I mean, there’s tough dude after tough dude,” noted Simon, who became the first man to finish Basharat. “This isn’t the first person I’ve handed their first loss like this. But I definitely think it’s a strong way to bounce back. I hope the UFC gives me another match-up soon. That’s the number one thing, is just stay consistent, not have long layoffs.”
Key to Saturday’s win, added Ricky Simon, was self-belief.
“I kept saying, ‘maybe the CTE has caught up with me, and I’m just dumb,’ because I’m still so confident. I’m losing, but I know I’m not a loser. I’m a winner, and I’ve been winning in this sport for over a decade. I just knew I had to trust in myself. I have a full team around me that has so much belief in me, but there’s nothing like self-belief, and I knew that’s what it was going to take.”
Watch the full UFC Seattle post-fight press conference with Ricky Simon above.
