11:20 a.m., August 26
He entered the Octagon as part of the Road to UFC tournament.
Samandar Murodov, one of the most promising welterweight fighters, had another fight with the American Jonathan Piersma (9-3) in the semifinals of the Road to UFC tournament in Las Vegas.
The Tajik fighter finally won his 11th victory in a row – he won by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) and this is Samandar’s new record – 11-0 (7 finishes).
It’s too early to talk about a UFC contract after this fight, but anything is possible.
This is Murodov’s second win at this tournament – he previously beat Brazilian Gian Siqueira.
Over the entire duration of the project, 13 tournaments were held in Road to UFC, where 59 fights took place, in which at least 37 fighters won one victory. Of the 37 fighters, only 10 received a contract with the UFC.
It is supposed to be very difficult to get into the UFC.
“It all depends on the performances, the level of the tournaments and actually on the fighter himself. It is very difficult to get into the UFC now, because there are too many fighters, there is a purge so that you can safely sign newcomers later,” – MMA expert Daler Latipov told “Asia -Plus”.
According to him, UFC image makers are careful with the selection of fighters, looking at various parameters and nuances.
“It’s important for them that a fighter has a good balance, and that he doesn’t have weak opponents in his career, but at least with an even track. They also don’t like when there are a lot of draw fights. They need early victories.
There are a lot of guys with a really big record, but they don’t sign. Why? Because some who have a good record fight debutants or those who have the same number of wins and losses in their career or not so many fights at the non-professional level. UFC analysts don’t like that,” says Latipov.
Daler Latipov notes that Sean Shelby, Dana White’s assistant, is following “questionable records”.
“For example, in dubious tournaments in which a fighter builds a track record by going against weak opponents or those who are not experienced in MMA. The record grows in case of such victories, but such fighters are hunted,” he added. ” notes the specialist.
