PARIS – Whatever beef there might’ve been between Nasrat Haqparast and John Makdessi heading into UFC Fight Night 209, Haqparast considers it squashed after his unanimous decision win in their lightweight bout Saturday at Accor Arena.
“Honestly, it was just like, we trained together seven years ago in 2015 at TriStar,” Haqparast told reporters afterward. “We were like training partners. Then he split the team. It can happen, you know. He found his own way. We got matched in 2019; three years ago I had some visa issues. I pulled out then I wanted to get the fight rescheduled. It didn’t happen. Then we were supposed to fight in February, (but) he got injured. Now this was the third time (being booked).
“In between that, we had a little bit of Twitter trash talk, but it was nothing personal. He didn’t say something against my family, me either. We didn’t cross the line. Just a little bit of trash talk to hype the fight a little bit. Now we squashed the beef, and everything is fine.”
It seemed like more than that when Haqparast (14-5 MMA, 6-4 UFC) and Makdessi got in each other’s faces at the end of Round 1, but Haqparast simply chalked that up to being in the heat of the moment.
“It’s just a fight,” Haqparast said. “Excites me so much.”
With the win, Haqparast snapped a two-fight skid – losses to Dan Hooker and Bobby Green. He’s looking forward now that’s happy with what he showed against Makdessi.
“We close the book, and we head to the next challenge,” Haqparast said. “He had a lot of experience. He’s a very experienced guy, mature guy, awkward style. Everybody’s fighting like him. I wanted to show a little bit of my real skill set against him, and I’m proud what I did today.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 209.