What a comeback!
[
#UFCVegas30 live on @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/QfQuwg1sRj— UFC (@ufc)
June 26, 2021
Kennedy
Nzechukwu found himself in a dire predicament in the opening
round of his light heavyweight clash with Danilo
Marques at
UFC Fight Night 190.
The Dana White’s Contender Series alum was taken down almost
immediately and then surrendered his back to Marques, who made
Nzechukwu wear him like a backpack for the majority of the round.
Nzechukwu was able to avoid his opponent’s attempts to lock in a
rear-naked choke and make it until the horn. That’s when the tide
began to turn.
“I tried to stay calm. At the same time, I knew he was going to
burn his legs out, because he was constricting his legs trying to
hold on to me,” Nzechukwu said. “I knew it was kind of a dicey
situation. I knew I could get him to burn his legs out. It’s not
the smartest thing to do – the best thing is to stay out of that
position – but I knew he was going to burn his legs out.
“And after the first round, he was limping towards his corner so I
knew it was time to push the pace in the second and third round and
I got the finish.”
Nzechukwu was taken down again at the outset of Round 2, and he
surrendered back control to Marques on the mat. However, the Fortis
MMA product returned to his feet and began to tag his adversary
with combinations over the second half of the period.
Heading into the third round, Nzechukwu received some pointed
advice from his coaches.
“My coaches told me on the third round to push it. Suffer now and
enjoy the rest later,” Nzechukwu said. “I just had to suffer and
push, push, push .. I had to do what I had to do to get through. He
was really exhausted after the first round so I just had to push to
break him. We knew we could get that done.”
In addition to what happened in the fight, Nzechukwu had to
overcome some difficulties prior to Saturday night.
“I know I had to rally back, but I was so sick during this week
with congestion and stuff like that… I tried to flush it out,
because it was kind of compromising my cardio, but we kept pushing,
because this is a huge opportunity and not a lot of athletes get to
showcase their skills on this platform,” he said. “I can’t
disrespect that opportunity, I kept pushing. I knew I had what it
takes to get through it.”