UFC prospect Austin Bashi sees bright future after first win
UFC on ESPN 71 winner Austin Bashi talks to MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight after his first-round submission of John Yannis in Las Vegas.
LAS VEGAS – Austin Bashi met the media Saturday after his first-round submission win over John Yannis at UFC on ESPN 71.
Yannis (9-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) stepped in on short notice to take on the highly touted Bashi (14-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) and was a big underdog at the UFC Apex. Bashi showed why when he got his first UFC win with a standing rear-naked choke with about 90 seconds left in the opening round.
Bashi was supposed to fight Francis Marshall for his sophomore UFC outing until Marshall pulled out not long before the event. The 23-year-old Michigan-based featherweight said all he cared about was making sure he stayed on the card – and didn’t care who the opponent was going to be.
Bashi was a heavy favorite when he came through and earned a contract on DWCS this past September. He then was expected to make a splash in his official UFC debut when he took on Christian Rodriguez in January.
But as a 3-1 favorite, Bashi dropped a decision for the first loss of his MMA career. He said that experience helped set him up for Saturday’s win – and what he wants to happen going forward.
“After that last fight, I saw who my true supporters were, and I saw who was sleeping on me – and there were a bunch of people sleeping on me,” Bashi said at his post-fight news conference. “This was to prove something to myself – not really to the world, but to prove something to myself how hungry I am and how bad I really want it.”
Check out Bashi’s post-fight news conference in the video above.
