UFC on ESPN 38: Saidyokub Kakhramonov explains emotions after dominant win

LAS VEGAS – Saidyokub Kakhramonov continued the strong start to his UFC run on Saturday evening, turning in a dominant performance to kick off the preliminary card.

Kakhramonov (10-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC) faced Ronnie Lawrence in the first bout of UFC on ESPN 39 at the UFC Apex, and showed off aggression and pressure that was too much for Lawrence (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) to handle.

After 15 minutes, it was Kakhramonov who earned the clear unanimous decision win. It was Kakhramonov’s first fight in nearly a year, and he wasn’t bothered that he didn’t finish the fight as he did in his UFC debut.

“I just needed cage time, you know?” Kakhramonov told reporters including MMA Junkie at the post-fight news conference. “I wanted to see if I’d get tired, but man, I could go two more rounds, easy.”

After the fight, Kakhramonov couldn’t hold back tears as he displayed a lot of emotion. It wasn’t something that happened just after his hand raised, either.

“I cried before the fight five times when I was in the back,” Kakhramonov said. “I was talking to my Dad, I cried, I teared up. I don’t know, I was so f*cking emotional. I don’t know why, maybe it was just too long (between fights).

“I feel like it was my debut, because last time it was short notice. I didn’t get to feel anything. This time, I had no excuse, you know? I trained 10 months. If something goes wrong, what’s my excuse gonna be? I think it was just such an emotional fight for me.”

Check out the full post-fight interview with Kakhramonov in the video above.