In his most recent fight, Mansur Abdul-Malik did something that he had never done. In the eighth fight of his professional career to go along with an amateur bout, he lost a round on the judges scorecards for the first time ever. That round was due to a big shot from Nick Klein, which temporarily put him in a bad spot.
However, if you ask Abdul-Malik about it, it was far more about how he responded than what happened in the first place.
“My takeaway was how I handled it, which was absolutely beautiful. Adversity is something in your mind, and I didn’t see that as anything except for, ‘okay, he hit me. Let me get back together and let me hit him’, Abdul-Malik said. “It was as simple as that. You saw, you saw in the corner, me, how I conducted myself, my coaches, how they were speaking to me. It was, it was seamless. It was perfect. There was, it almost seemed like there was no adversity.”
He cites his behavior in the corner as both a sign that he was ready to take over that fight, and a testament to his mental fortitude. His coaches, on the other hand, were being a touch more technical in their approach to the round.
“It was almost like I had won that round from my body language and the way that I was acting. I was like, okay, alright. It’s my turn now,” he said. “100% [they had the same faith in me].Of course they’ll, they’ll be a little bit more analytical about it. Like, we lost this round. We need to get back and do this or he hit us. Don’t let that happen again. They’ll be a little bit more strategic about it.”
Following that fight he is working on that defense. However, he feels it was not so much the defense that had a chink in the amor, but rather his reliance on a singular gameplan.
“I’m always buttoning up the defense. I’m always buttoning up the offense, but there’s times when you can be a little bit too focused on a game plan or a strategy. And I feel like I caught myself in that moment doing that,” Abdul Malik explained. “You could just see from my body language. I wasn’t as free as I normally would be in practice where I’ve been in other fights. I was just way too focused on the idea that I had when it comes to a game plan.”
Now with his mind back to that place, he’s ready to prove himself at UFC Atlanta. He’ll take on Cody Brundage and has just one prediction for that fight.
“Look at this hand [raising hand striaght up]. That’s that’s reminiscent of what you’re going to see. God willing. It’s going to be beautiful, man,” he said. “And I’m going to have fun on that night. I swear to God, I’m literally filled with energy… I’m ready to perform.”
His fight with Cody Brundage takes place on the UFC Atlanta main card. That portion of the card begins at 10pm EST and airs on ESPN.
