LAS VEGAS – It didn’t take long for Charalampos Grigoriou to announce his arrival in the UFC.
Grigoriou (8-3) needed just one minute to take out Cameron Smotherman (8-4) by TKO Tuesday at Dana White’s Contender Series 58, yielding a contract from UFC boss Dana White.
The stoppage marked the Serra Longo fighter’s fourth straight, and he plans on using that momentum to tear through the UFC bantamweight division.
“I’m a very good striker,” Grigoriou told MMA Junkie and other reporters post-fight at DWCS 58. “I want them to know who I am and my skills. So, they have to be aware.”
Grigoriou became the first Cyprus-born fighter to sign with the UFC, and he is honored to represent his country on the biggest stage.
“All of them they are drunk right now in Cyprus because they had the parties,” Grigoriou said. “To be the only one in the UFC now from Cyprus, it’s amazing. We put Cyprus on the map, we put Cyprus in the UFC. It’s amazing for me, amazing for my people in Cyprus, and the whole of Cyprus in general.”
Training out of Long Island alongside the likes of UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and top contender Merab Dvalishvili, Grigoriou is looking to make his promotional debut at UFC 295 on Nov. 11 in New York.
“I was thinking to fight in Madison Square Garden because I live in New York,” Grigoriou said. “It will be amazing, so yes, I would love to.”
For more on the card, check out MMA Junkie’s event hub for Dana White’s Contender Series 58.
