LAS VEGAS – Alberto Montes met the media Saturday after his win over Ricky Turcios at UFC 324.
Montes (11-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) submitted Turcios (12-6 MMA, 2-4 UFC) 40 seconds into the second round on the prelims at T-Mobile Arena. The Venezuelan won for the fourth straight time.
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Amazingly, Montes’ five most recent wins have all been either D’Arce or anaconda chokes. His finish of Turcios was worth an extra $100,000 for Performance of the Night, which almost certainly far outpaces his fight purse in his promotional debut.
The wait was a long one for Montes, who won his UFC contract with an anaconda choke finish of Carlos Calderon on DWCS in October 2024. He was set to debut in the UFC 11 months ago, but had an injury that put him on the shelf until UFC 326.
“It was one of the longest and most annoying injuries I’ve had, but this week, I really realized that I belong here,” Montes said at his post-fight news conference. “I realized I belong in the UFC throughout this fight week.”
Montes said the featherweight division needs to be on notice that he’s here.
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“All I have to do is fix some stuff in my personal life and I’ll go back to it as soon as possible,” Montes said. “I want to feel this again – this fight, I want to feel this feeling, the fight week, everything else. I want to do this as soon as possible. As far as the division, I like to send messages with my actions, so I’ll continue to fight.”
Check out Montes’ post-fight interview in the video above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alberto Montes says slick finish in UFC 326 debut proves he belongs
