Las Vegas — After losing both of his fights in 2025, light heavyweight Diyar Nurgozhay finally earned his first victory inside the octagon at UFC 326 on Saturday, picking up a unanimous decision win over newcomer Rafael Tobias.
“I think the fight pretty much went according to plan. The only reason it did not finish is because I did not work hard enough,” Nurgozhay (11-2) said following the fight, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “There were moments here I could finish him.”
Nurgozhay took full responsibility on Saturday for not being able to finish his opponent, adding that it wasn’t a mental block.
“From what I understand, his nose is broken, something else he broke. I think that we put as much damage as we could on him. Yeah, it did look kind and back-and-forth a little bit, I got a little tired, but I think the only reason it wasn’t finished is because of me, I should have pressed a little harder. But other than that, I think we excecated what we were supposed to do, and I feel great about the win.”
“Not because of mental at all. It’s more like I wasn’t able to hit the right shot, wasn’t able to get him the right way. Maybe he moved away, or maybe I didn’t land it clean,” he suggested.
Diyar Nurgozhay also addressed a low blow that the Kazakh said never actually happened. At least, he wasn’t the one landing low, he explained.
“If you keep looking at it, that shot wasn’t there, that’s why the ref didn’t notice it. Because where I aimed and where I hit him was somewhere around the bellybutton area. So if you look at the stoppage, if you look at the replay, they’re saying ‘oh he fouled him,’ and then they showed me being kneed in the groin area. They didn’t show a shot that I did.”
“If I did hit him illegally in the groin, I would not try to keep on going and keep on punching him. That’s not sportsmanlike,” Nurgozhay finished.
Watch the full UFC 326 post-fight press conference with Diyar Nurgozhay above.
