VANCOUVER – Azamat Bekoev thinks Yousri Belgaroui is only on the UFC roster at the request of Alex Pereira, and he intends to show his opponent doesn’t belong. At least not in the octagon with him at UFC Fight Night 262.
Belgaroui (8-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is a former kickboxing opponent of UFC light heavyweight champ Pereira. They met three times inside the ring, with Belgaroui wining the first bout by decision then suffering stoppage losses in the subsequent bouts.
The Dutchman has now followed Pereira’s footsteps to the UFC, and it came in the aftermath of two fights on Dana White’s Contender Series. Bekoev (20-3 MMA, 2-0 UFC) doesn’t think matchmakers were keen to sign Belgaroui, and thinks they intentionally gave him the hardest possible matchup for Saturday’s debut at Rogers Arena in Canada (ESPN+).
“I think Pereira wants to push this guy to the UFC,” Bekoev told MMA Junkie. “He’s got two opportunities in Contender Series. I wanted to fight there before UFC, too. They gave him good opponents and strikers and they couldn’t finish him. That’s why UFC didn’t want to sign him. I think Pereira was asking or begging, and that’s why they put him (against me) because they want to punish him. I want to say after the fight, ‘No Chama.'”
After some hardships of his own reaching the UFC stage, Bekoev will made his promotional debut on short notice at UFC 311 in January, scoring a first-round knockout of Zachary Reese. He followed it up with another first-round knockout of Ryan Loder in May, and now he looks to finish his rookie year strong.
Bekoev said he could not feel more prepared to deliver. He’s been training diligently with American Top Team coach and former kickboxing standout Artem Levin, and thinks that will produce his desire result.
“Artem Levin has been working with me since I went to ATT,” Bekoev said. “I have three knockouts in a row. For this fight he was sparring with me too and I have a lot of tools to win this fight with striking game too.
“I don’t think he’s good like Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya. He’s a beginning. Maybe he’s good in about three years. Now he’s not ready to fight with the good guys.”
