The tournament format is as old as the sport of MMA itself. While often not in a one-night format anymore, there are still aspects of the old style lingering around the UFC. Road to UFC offers a glimpse into that and creates an interesting predictament for fighters like Dom Mar Fan.
Following his win in the semifinals of the lightweight tournament, the analytical Mar Fan felt some strong urges to immediately start breaking down his new opponent.
“Crazy tempting, man. Like especially because I’m always so wired right after I fight. I pretty much never sleep that night,” Mar Fan explained. “It was so tempting. I knew who I’m fighting, right? So I wanted to jump straight on my phone and just start analyzing him.”
Despite having all of that information readily at his disposal with UFC Fight Pass, “Street Buddha” knew that it wasn’t a good idea. With nearly five months between fights, that long breaking down tendancies could do more harm than good.
“I had to be disciplined. And I just made it a rule that I wouldn’t,” he said. “I had actually spoken to my mindset coach in advance to that, and we knew that that was going to be something I would have to deal with.”
Now as we inch closer to the fight, Mar Fan has a read on his opponent – Sang Uk Kim. And with as long as he’s had to prepare and wait for this moment, he’s ready to do some damage.
“I want to beat the life out of this guy,” Mar Fan said. “When I get my contract, that’s a, that’s a happy, that’s a happy bonus, but more than anything, I want to beat the life out of them.”
In addition to his predictions for violence, he feels that his pace and pressure should make the difference. Centered around his advantages in the grappling, he expects to take Kim into deep waters and drown him.
“I’ll win too many of the wrestling exchanges for him to keep up with,” he predicted. “I see, in the second or third round, him being gassed and the fight getting finished.”
You can catch the finals of the Road to UFC tournament as part of the UFC 325 broadcast. That begins at 5pm EST this Saturday and airs on Paramount+.
