Ivan Erslan fought George Tokkos in a light heavyweight bout at UFC Fight Night 276. Erslan hurt Tokkos early but could not finish him. Erslan landed more damaging strikes and controlled Tokkos for 15 minutes, earning a unanimous decision. Erslan described intense mental turmoil beginning around 6:30 a.m. on fight day, with many thoughts and self-talk for encouragement. He said he had been seeking a UFC victory since his 2015 debut and believed his UFC journey would not end without a win. After securing his first UFC win, Erslan called for a fight with Ibo Aslan at UFC Belgrade on August 1.
"“I was looking for this from 2015,” Erslan said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “I was dreaming of getting my win in the UFC. I told whoever I spoke to, 'I don't deserve to get out of the UFC without victory.' So, here I am. I got a nice victory and I hope to continue my journey in the UFC.”"
"“From this morning 6:30, my head just started to work against me. Lot of thoughts, lot of bad, good thoughts. Lot of speaking to myself, lot of encouragement to myself. It is always like this but I needed this win. I needed to show that I belong here... I know how good I am on the training mats, I just needed to show. I can do much better than this one, but still a win is a win.”"
"“I want to fight Ibo Aslan at UFC Belgrade,” Erslan said. “I think it's amazing matchup, both crazy standup guys. And I think [matchmaker] Mick Maynard would love this.”"
Read at Sherdog
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]