LAS VEGAS – Jakub Wiklacz met the media Saturday after his win over Muin Gafurov at UFC Fight Night 266.
Wiklacz (18-3-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC), the scorecards later showed, was on his way to a unanimous decision win over Gafurov (20-7 MMA, 2-3 UFC) on the prelims at the Meta APEX. But he stayed after a submission late in the fight, and Gafurov tapped with one second left.
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The ending had some drama to it, though. Gafurov maintained he made it to the final horn — which, again, wouldn’t have mattered — but replays showed he tapped to the guillotine choke with his left hand with about one second left, and then with his right hand just ahead of the horn.
“I think I won this fight, even if I didn’t submit him,” Wiklacz said at his post-fight news conference. “But I’m always tough mentally. I know that every second, I can submit someone and I’m still dangerous until the last second of the last round, and that’s what I just showed.”
For Wiklacz, that one second was worth $100,000. A unanimous decision win over Gafurov, who missed weight by 5 pounds and gave up 25 percent of his purse to Wiklacz, would not likely have been a Performance of the Night bonus winner for him. Instead, he went home with an extra six figures, which almost certainly dwarfed his fight purse.
Now the Polish fighter wants to keep climbing up the ladder at bantamweight. His promotional debut this past October, after he arrived as KSW’s 135-pound champion, was an upset of former Bellator champ Patchy Mix that got plenty of attention.
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“I want a ranked opponent. I just want to show I’m ready. I’m not about just being here. I’m about to become a champion here. That’s my goal,” Wiklacz said.
Check out Wiklacz’s post-fight interview in the video above.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC Fight Night 266: Jakub Wiklacz breaks down last-second submission
