Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady met the media Saturday after his win over Shem Rock at UFC Fight Night 270.
Al-Selwady (16-4 MMA, 1-1 UFC) swept the judges’ scorecards against Rock (12-3-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC) with a trio of 30-27 scores on the prelims at The O2 in London.
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Al-Selwady’s win came on Rock’s home turf in England, and immediately after the fight they had to be separated when Rock put his hands on Al-Selwady’s face, and then had to duck away from a post-fight swing.
Al-Selwady said Rock spent much time in the lead-up to the fight trying to get under his skin online, but to no avail.
“My opponent is very vocal. He’s in love with social media,” Al-Selwady told the UFC after his win. “He tried to make this a get-in-my-head thing, and I’m here for just business. No matter what he did, I just replied back with a smile.
“… I’m actually proud of myself for not letting it get to me, because he tried every single tactic that he can, and I’m by default an emotional person. I’m a fighter and I’m more of a pitbull mentality. So to let someone talk to me like that and get physical and not give them the reaction, I think what won in this way was my stubbornness to not give him what he wants.”
Check out Al-Selwady’s post-fight interview with the UFC.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Al-Selwady didn’t let Shem Rock’s head games work at UFC London
