Farid Basharat is ranked among the top bantamweights in the sport with a perfect 15-0 record including six wins in the octagon but he’s still risking everything going into his next fight at UFC 329 in July.
Despite a flawless resume, the 28-year-old fighter is about to compete on the final fight of his current UFC contract and he knows there’s a world where the promotion just opts not to sign him to a new deal. Obviously, Basharat hopes otherwise and he’s just adding that onto the list of reasons he wants to win and then move onto higher ranked competition.
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“This is going to be the last fight on my contract so I’m hoping it does reward me,” Basharat told MMA Fighting. “I’m hoping I go out there and have a good performance and then as it stands because [Sean] O’Malley beat [Aiemann] Zahabi, I do have the longest win streak in the bantamweight division.
“So I’m hoping go out there, beat this guy and get rewarded with a new contract. Hopefully the next opponent is going to be a step up. That’s the plan.”
Fighting out a contract gives the UFC the option to offer a new deal or just cut ties with the athletes so nothing whatsoever is guaranteed for the future.
Farid’s brother Javid Basharat found that out the hard way after he won a fight over Gianni Vazquez back in February but the ultimately decided not to to offer him a new deal after he fought out his contract.
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“It’s a gamble,” Basharat told MMA Fighting. “If it were up to me, I’d re-sign straight away because ultimately the UFC is where everybody wants to be. I love being here. I enjoy fighting here on this stage. The company has always been good to me. My goal was always to be the UFC champion and I feel like I’m on my way. But it happened in a way where they wanted me to have this fight first to see.
“But listen, here we are. July 11, I go out there on the biggest card of the year and one of the biggest cards of the year and have a great performance, I think I’ll be undeniable to re-sign [to a new contract].”
Basharat says he has spoken about his future with his manager Ali Abdelaziz and he’s confident winning at UFC 329 fixes everything for him moving forward.
Originally scheduled to face rising star Ethyn Ewing until an injury knocked him off the card, Basharat now awaits word on a new opponent for his upcoming fight.
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The mission stays the same for Basharat, who was already out to prove something with his performance at UFC 329.
“Obviously I’ve discussed it with [my manager] and ideally you want to re-sign as soon as possible,” Basharat said. “But the way the timing happened, the UFC offered this fight and they said ‘get this fight out of the way and then we can discuss.’ For myself, I feel like I’ve already proven I belong in the UFC. I have the longest win streak. They’ve been tough guys. They’ve been tough guys and now I’m fighting another tough guy who many people are touting as the next contender or champion or superstar or whatever you will.
“I go out and [win], seven fight win streak, 16-0 before turning 29 even, surely you’d think this is somebody the company would want to keep. I’m hoping to go out there, have a great showing and re-sign to be honest with you.”
Ideally, Basharat wanted ranked competition but he was more than willing to accept the matchup against Ewing and the same goes for anybody else the UFC gives him.
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Rather than languish in frustration, Basharat is putting everything into his training camp to fight on one of the biggest cards of the year where he really hopes to make a splash.
“My whole mentality is control what you can control,” Basharat said. “If it’s not in my hands, why worry about it?”
