UFC flyweight Asu Almabayev is just happy to get a fight against Jose Ochoa at UFC Abu Dhabi after losing his first opponent just a couple of weeks ago.
“Didn’t lose much to be honest. The most important thing is that there is an opponent. I’m ready for any opponent, I train really hard,” Almabayev told reporters through a translator on Wednesday.
“I’m just excited there is an opponent that I can fight.”
Almabayev (21-3) was originally set to take on Ramazan Temirov, but two weeks ago his opponent pulled out. Lucky for him Ochoa was eager for a big opportunity and took the fight.
This might be a blessing in disguise for Almabayev who’s coming off a tough loss to Manel Kape in March. Getting a less experienced opponent, and on short-notice, might be a good way to get back into the win column.
“We learned from our mistakes. Every defeat teaches you something so we make sure to take look at what was done wrong and correct our mistakes. Hopefully this fight, the next fight, I’ll be able to show what I learned and what I improved on,” he said.
Earlier in the day Ochoa told reporters that, while he had respect for Almabayev’s wrestling, but saw holes in his striking. Ochoa said he planned on capitalizing on those deficiencies.
“Once the cage closes we’ll make sure to do whatever we can to show what we’re able to do,” said Almabayev.
“With God’s help we’ll show what we worked on, we’ll show our worth. Everyone will know what we can do on Saturday.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Asu Almabayev above. He takes on Jose Ochoa at UFC Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
