Namo Fazil claims he was not 100 percent for his Contender Series fight because was attacked the day before.
On Tuesday, Fazil headlined week two of Contender Series where he lost by third-round knockout to Kaik Brito after a back-and-forth battle. After the fight, UFC CEO Dana White hinted that “some shit” happened at the fighter hotel before the event, but did not go into details.
Well, Fazil has.
On Wednesday, Fazil posted to social media, claiming he was jumped before the fight by a large group
of fighters while cutting weight (h/t MMA Mania).
“I want to talk to you about something,” Fazil said. “As you know, I fought yesterday. I want to explain why I wasn’t able to put on a very good performance. If you noticed, I didn’t fight like the Namo Fazil you’re used to seeing. I wasn’t myself.
“I was in the middle of my weight cut. I only had about three or four kilograms left to lose. For fights, I cut around 14 kilograms [30 pounds] in total, and I’d already lost more than 10 kilograms. Then, while I was in that condition, someone was going to come into my room and attack me.
“There was a knock at the door,” Fazil said. “I said to my coach, ‘Could you please open the door?’ They confronted me. My coaches stood up while I was still wrapped in blankets. There were 15 of them, and the 15 people who came were Chechen. One of them suddenly came at me and slapped me. Then he slapped me a second time.
“My coaches were holding me back, saying, ‘Namo, you’re not going to fight. They were stopping me because I had a fight. I told him, basically, ‘Be a man. Let me finish my fight first, then we can settle this.’ He was saying, ‘Let’s fight now,’ and I said, ‘No, I have a fight. Wait.’ My coaches intervened, and once a scuffle broke out, they became scared and ran off. The police came. There was shouting and commotion in the hotel lobby.”
Ultimately, it seems Fazil suffered no serious injuries during the altercation, but he says the incident left him not as his best for his fight with Brito.
“At the end of the day, this isn’t a Van Damme movie,” Fazil said. “There were 15 people. If they really wanted to, they could have done much worse to me. Clearly, they had some kind of objective.
“People want to know what happened. Maybe nobody actually knows the truth. As a man, it’s extremely difficult for people to come at you like that and for you to just stand there and say nothing. But I don’t belong only to myself anymore.
“I didn’t want to come out afterward making excuses, saying, ‘This happened, that happened. But I believe this needs to be talked about so people understand why I wasn’t at my best.”
While these are all just allegations at this point, it appears that one of the men who allegedly attacked Fazil was middleweight fighter Baisangur Susurkaev, who posted pictures to his Instagram stories mocking the Kurd fighter.
The beef between the two seemingly stems from Fazil calling out Islam Dulatov in interviews before his Contender Series bout, calling for a fight in Abu Dhabi in October.
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VIDEO STEW
UFC 330 in slow motion.
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FLAVOR IN YOUR EAR
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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
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Money.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Honestly, if Jimmy Sus (Baisanhur Susurkaev) did attack Fazil, he may have done him a huge favor. The UFC might sign Fazil despite the loss just so they can sell this beef.
Anyway, there will be no Morning Report on Friday, so enjoy the fights this weekend and see y’all on Monday!
EXIT POLL
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