Outside Source
Mateusz Gamrot and Rafael Fiziev headlined UFC Fight Night 228 on Saturday in a highly-anticipated clash of lightweight contenders.
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After mostly feeling each other out in the opening frame, Fiziev dropped to the ground in agony after throwing a right kick which was blocked by Gamrot. As a result, “Gamer” was awarded the technical knockout victory due to injury.
Replay revealed that it was Fiziev’s left knee which gruesomely popped while throwing the kick, bringing the fight to an anticlimactic end early in Round 2. While it definitely isn’t the victory he had imagined, Gamrot noted that he made a conscious effort to defend Fiziev’s kicks.
“Of course, this was not what I would like,” Gamrot said in his post-fight interview. “To be honest, when I prepared for this fight, my goal was that my defense would be stronger than his kick. I prepared very good defense in my gym. I wish a quick recovery for Rafael. A win is a win. I win tonight. I’m looking forward to the next one.”
Regardless of the method of victory, Gamrot already has his eyes on a higher-ranked opponent. While winning UFC gold remains the eventual goal, Gamrot is plotting a clash against former champ Charles Oliveira next.
“This is not what I want winning this fight. I’m looking forward to next year to fight,” he said. “My dream fight, of course, is the champion Islam Makhachev, but this is not now. But my next fight I would like to challenge myself to the most dangerous fighter on the ground, Charles Oliveira. I would like to fight this guy.”
Oliveira is scheduled to face Makhachev in a lightweight title rematch at UFC 294 on Oct. 21.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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