Farid Basharat credits proper prep work for UFC debut win over Da’Mon Blackshear
LAS VEGAS – Farid Basharat beat Da’Mon Blackshear with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 285 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Take a look inside the fight with Basharat, who stayed unbeaten and won his UFC debut after getting there by way of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Farid Basharat vs. Da'Mon Blackshear
Result: Farid Basharat def. Da’Mon Blackshear via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Updated records: Basharat (10-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), Blackshear (12-5-1 MMA, 0-1-1 UFC)
Key stat: Basharat landed three takedowns and had more than five minutes of control time.
Basharat on the fight's key moment
“(I’m) not really that surprised (he would try to wrestle)., I knew coming in he wasn’t going to stand with me. I know these guys: They’re underestimating my grappling and my wrestling. … I mean, I train with Jake Shields every day. I’ve got to be decent by now. I think he was probably hoping to press me, get me down to the ground. But it’s not that easy. I probably found the grappling easier than the striking, and he’s supposed to be the wrestler, the grappler, and I’m the striker. I’m not that surprised.”
Basharat on getting his first UFC win
“(My) first UFC win out of the way – I’m ecstatic. I’m very happy. I’m proud of my performance. My team’s very happy. It’s always good to get the first one out the way, you know? Everyone’s always telling me (about) octagon jitters. The first one’s always a big one. It doesn’t get any bigger than this: T-Mobile (Arena), UFC 285, Jon Jones undercard. And I didn’t feel any octagon jitters. I feel like if you prepare correctly, jitters is all in your head. It’s all in your head. I prepared correctly with my team.”
Basharat on what he wants next
“It’s going to be Ramadan in the end of March. That will last a month, till the end of April. I’m going to go to London, spend time with my family during Ramadan, and then I’ll be back to Vegas and straight into camp. I think I want to fight maybe end of June, early July. I think that’s realistic around International Fight Week. That’ll give me a good amount of time to get my way back down and get into training, because Ramadan does offset your rhythm a little bit.”
To hear more from Basharat, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.
