Las Vegas — Chinese bantamweight Xiao Long finds himself booked into a fight with ex-champ Cody Garbrandt at this Saturday’s UFC 326 in Las Vegas, much to the surprise of many UFC fans and pundits.
Long (27-10) is 1-2 inside the octagon entering his fourth UFC fight, and coming off a loss Su Young You. After a couple of showings on Road to UFC, Asia’s answer to The Ultimate Fighter and Dana White’s Contender Series, the 27-year old finds himself in the biggest fight of his career.
“I think it will be a really good match-up for me with my opponent. I think the UFC [has] big trust [in] me,” Long told media outlets including Cageside Press on Wednesday.
Even coming off a couple of losses, Garbrandt remains a dangerous opponent. Asked about the pressures of fighting someone like Garbrandt, both a popular fighter with fans and an ex-champ, Long stated that “I won’t miss this chance. Of course I know he’s really popular and really famous in this division, but I won’t miss this chance, and I’ll let everybody know me.”
Long later told Cageside Press that the Road tournament, his entryway into the UFC, was “a big setup,” and “a really good setup for me to get into the UFC. Because all the opponents [were] grapplers, and that made me improve my grappling.”
His record as a professional actually has him with more experience with Garbrandt, though Long did note on Wednesday that it’s not entirely at a high level.
“I think there is some mistake inside of my fight record,” stated Long, without getting into exactly what the inaccuracies are. “There are some fights, not big professional fights, but it’s still professional experience for me. Of course last two years when I get to the Road to UFC and I fight with a grappler, it’s also a really good experience for me. I think, really not a big professional record, but it’s still good for me, the experience.”
Watch the full UFC 326 media day appearance by Xiao Long above.
