Philadelphia — His UFC 330 victory over Mansur Abdul-Malik was one of the most satisfying wins of his career, middleweight Dustin Stoltzfus said backstage at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on Saturday.
“I don’t really know what else to say to that. That was really hard,” a clearly elated Stoltzfus told media outlets including Cageside Press in the wake of his submission win.
Stoltzfus and Abdul-Malik had trained together, but only in light rounds a handful of times, but not super closely. No hard sparring, in other words. Haling from nearby Lancaster, PA, Stoltzfus (17-8) was a heavy underdog in the fight, which saw him clipped, but otherwise put on a very solid performance.
He’d later tell media members that he wasn’t upset with fans and bettors doubting him.
“I can’t be too mad about it. My record here in the UFC is not very good, so if people look at the numbers and not the actual performances, I can totally get why people count me out a lot,” Stoltzfus admitted. “I get it. But I know I’m good enough to hang with anyone in the division on a good day.”
Stoltzfus’s record in the company is 4-7, though with a few more performances like Saturday’s, that’s likely to change. One thing did nag at him? The fan reaction at UFC 330. “The biggest thing that sort of offended me was that the Philly crowd was cheering for a guy from Pittsburgh, and not from right outside of Philly. Dunno what that was all about.”
Watch the full UFC 330 post-fight press conference with Dustin Stoltzfus above.
