February 20, 2023 8: 45 am ET
LAS VEGAS – Nazim Sadykhov beat Evan Elder with a third-round doctor’s stoppage TKO Saturday to close out the preliminary card at UFC Fight Night 219 in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Sadykhov, who got the TKO victory after the cageside doctor said Elder couldn’t continue with a deep cut near his eye – a cut Sadykhov later said was caused by an accidental head clash.
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Sadykhov on the fight’s key moment
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 18: (R-L) Nazim Sadykhov of Russia punches Evan Elder in a lightweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 18, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
“It was a head butt. We clashed heads. Like I said, he was leading with his head, and it was going in, like, unpredictable directions, and we collided. He hit me on the side of the head. We butted heads.”
Sadykhov on first-time UFC jitters
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – FEBRUARY 18: (L-R) Evan Elder punches Nazim Sadykhov of Russia in a lightweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on February 18, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
“(I) just didn’t feel my timing the way I would like to have. But overall, I know first fights can go worse. People lose their first fights, or whatever it may be. I’m coming off a win, a finish, and that always makes me happy.
“I said jitters. Maybe that wasn’t the right word. I wasn’t nervous, like, ‘Ahhh, UFC.’ I just didn’t find my timing off the bat. Maybe it was him. I just didn’t settle in, and I didn’t start picking my shots the way I would have liked to. Maybe it was his game plan. I can’t really say. It just happened. I’ve got to look back at the fight, and I’m a smart fighter, so I make improvements every time I step in the cage.”
Sadykhov on what he wants next
“I’d like to fight in a few months again. I’d like to have an active year – once before the summer, maybe once at the end (of summer), and once in the winter. If I can pick and choose my schedule and the way I want things to go, that’s exactly how I would let this year play out. And what’s next? Just get better, get comfortable with this organization, and fight better every single time – raise the bar. I know calling out is a big thing. It makes headlines. But at the moment, I just want to fight whoever’s next.”
To hear more from Sadykhov, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 219.