Rinat
Fakhretdinov wants a ranked opponent after his win over
Nicolas
Dalby at
UFC on ABC 6 on Saturday.
Advertisement
A heavy favorite going into the fight, Fakhretdinov was in for a
rather unpleasant surprise against the underdog Dalby. Notorious
for upsetting the odds, Dalby came close to doing so once again as
he gave Fakhretdinov a run for his money. Fakhretdinov eventually
earned a split-decision victory that many believe could have easily
gone the other way.
Fakhretdinov wasn’t satisfied with the nature of the win, as he was
looking to secure a finish. However, the Russian realized why his
opponent, whom he now considers the most underrated fighter at
welterweight, came in riding a four-fight winning streak.
“I’m satisfied with the fight. I’m not satisfied with the result,
though,” Fakhretdinov told Red Corner MMA. “I wanted to win convincingly and get
the finish. But now I know why Dalby was on a four-fight winning
streak. He’s a very solid opponent and you know what, I consider
him the most underrated fighter in our division.”
Dalby has a bizarrely loud breathing technique which seemingly has
worked out quite well for him so far. However, it wasn’t Dalby’s
breathing but the strength of his grip that took Fakhretdinov by
surprise. Fakhretdinov believes Dalby’s opponents wear out more
because of “Danish Dynamite’s” strength than his pressure.
“He’s breathing like that in every fight, apparently it’s his way
to recover. If you take a closer look, he does it every time, so I
was prepared for it,” Fakhretdinov said. “What I was not prepared
for is that he’s got such a strong grip. That was really
surprising. But now I understand, it’s not about him being a train,
it’s about his opponents getting tired because of his strength. I
think we underestimated Dalby quite a bit. You have to give him a
lot of credit.”
Fakhretdinov then called out Neil Magny
for a clash at
UFC on ABC 7 in Abu Dhabi on Aug. 3.
“Abu Dhabi, Neil Magny,
let’s go!” he said.
Fakhretdinov’s only professional loss came in his sophomore outing
back in 2013. While “Gladiator” is undefeated in the UFC, his last
outing against Elizeu
Zaleski dos Santos in November 2023 ended in a majority draw.