UFC Baku: Nazim Sadykhov on what it means to have 'banger' fight at home vs. Nikolas Motta

USA Today

2 days ago

UFC Baku: Nazim Sadykhov on what it means to have 'banger' fight at home vs. Nikolas Motta
Nazim Sadykhov is excited to put on a show for his home country of Azerbaijan.
Sadykhov (10-1-1 MMA, 3-0-1 UFC) takes on Nikolas Motta (15-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in a lightweight bout on June 21 at UFC on ABC 8 from Baku Crystal Hall in Baku.
It's a long trip for Sadykhov from Las Vegas, but he wasn't about to pass up the chance to partake in the UFC's debut show in Azerbaijan, and have his loved ones in attendance.
"We're going back to the motherland," Sadykhov told MMA Junkie and other reporters during a scrum. "This is where the history of my family started, so we're going back to the motherland. It's just so important for myself, my family, my people. It wouldn't matter if it was on another planet: I would travel. I would make this fight happen regardless."
Sadykhov will take on a furious striker in Motta. The Brazilian is perhaps not the type of opponent who will propel Sadykhov up the rankings, but it's a matchup he expected.
"It's a banger," Sadykhov said. "I have much more tools than him, but it's a banger. He's tough. He's training in Thailand now. He was here in Vegas, but he's training in Thailand now. I'm sure I'm going to be fighting the sharpest version of Nikolas Motta, and that's who we're preparing for. He was the CFFC champion.
"I literally fought on the same card as him. We've been seeing each other at the (UFC Performance Institute) and stuff, but it was kind of like, 'Hi ... bye,' just because we probably both understood that eventually we might get matched up – and it came sooner than myself or him maybe expected. But anyways, it's going to be a good fight."