Coming off of losses in his first two UFC fights, flyweight Tyson Nam needed to deliver in his June UFC Fight Night bout versus Zarrukh Adashev should he hope to stay with the promotion. Thankfully for Nam, he was able to do just that.
Just 32 seconds into the fight Nam was able to finish Adashev on the feet, marking his first UFC win and first victory via knockout in a year.
“I got a knockout win in 32 seconds, so I wasn’t injured, I wasn’t bruised, and I was just in time to make the party for after the fight,” Nam told MMAWeekly.com. “I wanted to showcase a little more skills that I picked up during our time in quarantine, but it’s a little hard to do in 32 seconds.
“More than that is coming out with a Performance of the Night win; which is by far the best thing you can do in the UFC.”
Nam admits that he feels less pressure on himself now that he has his first UFC win, and in turn that’s allowing him to be more driven as he moves forward with the company.
“There’s a lot of weight (lifted) when you get your first win in the UFC,” said Nam. “You get a little be more a sense of motivation.
“It is definitely a lot of weight off my shoulders especially after getting a loss in my UFC debut and my second fight. Finally got the knockout, what I usually do internationally overseas, I actually got to show the U.S. what I do.”
On Saturday in Las Vegas, Nam (19-11-1) will look to build a winning streak when he faces Matt Schnell (14-5) in a UFC Vegas 10 preliminary flyweight bout.
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“To me it’s going to be a fast, furious, pace,” Nam said. “(Schnell’s) a finisher, I’m a finisher, so I’m sure a whirlwind is going to flying until somebody ends up getting finished.
“I think this might be a little longer than 32 seconds, so I can show the world what I’ve been working on during the pandemic.”
While Nam likes to think of potential match-ups for the future, for the time being he’s got his mind set on September 12 and not much after that.
“I usually like to line up come fight week and see who is scheduled with who, then when we get to Vegas start surfing the web and looking up potential future opponents in my division,” said Nam. “I’ll look at it then, but now I’m laser focused on Matt Schnell.”
Tyson Nam predicts ‘whirlwind’ fight against Matt Schnell at UFC Vegas 10
