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Belgaroui (10-3) faced a previously undefeated Mansur Abdul-Malik (9-1-1) in a middleweight matchup at UFC Seattle. Belgaroui battered Abdul-Malik’s lead leg from the onset, while maintaining his distance with a clean jab. Even when Abdul-Malik managed to take Belgaroui down, the 6’5” former kickboxer got back to his feet in seconds. While Belgaroui nearly finished Abdul-Malik in the second round, he was saved by the bell. Belgaroui maintained composure and gradually broke Abdul-Malik down to get a stoppage in the third round.
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While this was only Belgaroui’s second UFC fight, “Baby Faced Assassin” has a ton of experience competing in Glory Kickboxing. However, Belgaroui believes Abdul-Malik didn’t lose to him due to a lack of experience. Belgaroui credits his training camp for handing Abdul-Malik his first career loss. The Turkish-Dutch prospect reveals that he put himself in every possible threatening position during his training camp, even coming back from nearly getting choked out in submissions.
Train Hard, Fight Easy
“It has nothing to do with his experience,” Belgaroui said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “I think he’s very well-rounded. It’s more like what I have been doing in camp. I put myself in the most difficult places out there. I put myself against the fence, I put myself on the ground, put myself in half-submissions, where it’s almost time to stop. And then fight out of there, fight the guy there, and make him pay. So that’s what I could do naturally out there right now.”
Belgaroui came up short in his first Contender Series opportunity in 2023. Belgaroui then rebounded with two wins on the regional circuit to earn another Contender Series shot, where he scored a knockout in 2024. The 33-year-old has since picked up back-to-back knockout wins in the UFC.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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