A lot was going on in Ivan Erslan’s head going into his fight against George Tokkos on Saturday.
Erslan took on Tokkos in a light heavyweight clash at UFC Fight Night 276. While Erslan hurt Tokkos early, he was unable to put “Tuco” away. However, Erslan landed the more damaging shots and controlled Tokkos for 15 minutes to earn a unanimous decision win.
Erslan reveals that his head was in turmoil since early in the morning on Saturday. The 34-year-old had been dreaming of a UFC victory since making his professional MMA debut in 2015. While there were mixed thoughts, Erslan also tried to motivate himself. The Croatian was looking for his first UFC win when he faced Tokkos. Erslan says that he always knew that his UFC journey wouldn’t end without him getting his hand raised at least once.
“I was looking for this from 2015,” Erslan said in a post-fight interview with the UFC. “I was dreaming of getting my win in the UFC. I told whoever I spoke to, ‘I don’t deserve to get out of the UFC without victory.’ So, here I am. I got a nice victory and I hope to continue my journey in the UFC.”
“From this morning 6:30, my head just started to work against me. Lot of thoughts, lot of bad, good thoughts. Lot of speaking to myself, lot of encouragement to myself. It is always like this but I needed this win. I needed to show that I belong here… I know how good I am on the training mats, I just needed to show. I can do much better than this one, but still a win is a win.”
Belgrade Calling
Erslan (15-6) lost all three of his previous UFC outings before picking up his first win in the promotion against Tokkos. Erslan now wants to take on Turkey’s Ibo Aslan (14-4) at UFC Belgrade on August 1.
“I want to fight Ibo Aslan at UFC Belgrade,” Erslan said. “I think it’s amazing matchup, both crazy standup guys. And I think [matchmaker] Mick Maynard would love this.”
