Robert Valentin says UFC Belgrade win wasn’t his new-and-improved version

Robert Valentin met the media Saturday after his win over Dusko Todorovic at UFC Fight Night 283.

Valentin (13-6 MMA, 2-3 UFC) submitted Todorovic (13-7 MMA, 4-7 UFC) in the first round on the main card at Belgrade Arena in Serbia. After some scrambles on the canvas, Valentin capitalized when Todorovic made a miscalculation and soon after had him tapping to a guillotine choke.

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The Swiss fighter, who won for the second straight time after three straight losses to open his UFC run, said the plan all along was to win the fight on the canvas.

“I had the same submission a little bit earlier in the fight, but it was not 100 percent,” Valentin told the UFC after the fight. “I knew I needed to make some adjustments with my hip. I knew when we got to the same position again, I’d have it 100 percent.

“I was very confident in my grappling for this fight – and my striking, wrestling, everything. But I always say if you fight me, most likely, I’m going to submit you. I called it in the (pre-fight) interview – first-round submission. That’s what happened. Don’t let me near your neck.”

The crazy thing, Valentin said, is that on his current two-fight run, he’s still, essentially, the same version of fighter as he was when he had his three-fight skid.

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But he’s been working with Dewey Cooper at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, and he said when that 2.0 version is unleashed, look out.

“With Dewey Cooper, we’re cooking up some stuff, and right now, my opponents let me keep the gun in the holster,” Valentin said. “But once we get the gun out and we use those weapons (I’m learning with Cooper), it’s going to be ferocious, it’s going to be violent, it’s going to be brutal.

“But if you want to keep hugging me and try to take me down, I’m just going to have to submit you guys. We’ll keep those weapons until we really need them. We haven’t shown anything yet. We just keep doing what we’re doing: hard and honest work, good energy, positive mindset – and the sky’s the limit.”