London — Brazilian lightweight Kaue Fernandes kicked off Saturday’s UFC London in a high-octane fight that saw him knock down opponent Guram Kutateladze multiple times, though the fight still went the distance.
After a hard-fought three rounds, Fernandes (10-2) came away with a one-sided unanimous decision, and despite admitting that he had a few names in mind for his next fight, declined to call anyone out.
“I have a few names, but I’m still on my first UFC contract. So I want to get more acclimated here, and keep winning a little bit more,” Fernandes said following the fight, speaking backstage at the O2 Arena with media outlets including Cageside Press. “Maybe with one more win, I’ll say a name.”
Fernandes entered the fight as a sizable underdog, but never looked the part. That led to questions of whether the Brazilian had been overlooked coming into the bout. “I think that’s exactly it. I went into a fight as a 6 to 1 underdog, from the bottom of my heart, I don’t think I’m an underdog against anyone,” Fernandes stated. “And whenever I’m a favorite, I’m also not going to go in there feeling like I’m the favorite. When you go in there, it’s a war, it’s 50-50, it could go either way.”
As far as the multiple knockdowns he scored on Kutateladze, “he’s a warrior, but I was a little bit surprised that he could take it,” admitted Fernandes.
A champion is what Kaue Fernandes wants to be in the UFC, and he expects to travel a champion’s journey to get there. No easy path, in other words.
As Fernandes went on to explain, “a warrior’s day-by-day is made up of wars, and that’s exactly what I do. I’ve got to come in here and put on wars, I’ve got to come in here and put on great fights. It’s my destiny, I can’t walk away from it.”
Having now competed in England, Fernandes is hoping to get some more travel miles under his belt. Asked where he wants to fight next, “I’ve always wanted to fight in Canada and Australia, a few places like that,” he Fernandes replied. “Obviously fighting in Brazil would be great some day, but I want to see the world, so I would love to fight on the Canada card.”
That would be UFC 315 in Montreal, which comes on May 10. A quick turnaround, but not impossible if a spot on the card opens up.
Watch the full UFC London post-fight appearance by Kaue Fernandes above.
