Tahir Abdullayev picked up his first UFC victory on home soil. It doesn’t get much better than that – until the Azerbaijani chicken starts coming out post-fight.
“I’m Azerbaijani,” Abdullayev said post-fight (via UFC). “We’re going to go out with my friends, and we’re going to drink some real good tea and eat some stuff – maybe some real, traditional Azerbaijani chicken.”
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Abdullayev (22-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC) finished fellow promotional debutant Jefferson Nascimento (13-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) with strikes in Round 3 and sent the home crowd into a frenzy.
“I felt great,” Abdullayev said. “I could’ve finished earlier, but he just kept running away from me. … I was focused completely 100 percent. He basically kept on playing with me until the third round. Then in the third round, I was finally able to catch him.”
“… It was crazy energy, and I cannot tell you how incredible it is to fight here at home in Azerbaijan. I love that there are lots of people that are all cheering. I love the energy from them. It makes me fight even harder.”
Abdullayev, 29, doesn’t know what’s next on the agenda in terms of UFC assignments but said fans can expect more of the same from him going forward.
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“I know for sure that I’m a gladiator,” Abdullayev said. “I never give up. I will fight until the very end. Give me somebody who will engage with me, who will fight with me, and I will show you what I can do.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Tahir Abdullayev plans to bring big UFC warrior energy, eat Azerbaijani chicken, repeat
