ABU DHABI – Muhammad Naimov beat Nathaniel Wood with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 294 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Take a look inside the fight with Naimov, who now has two five-fight winning streaks sandwiched around the lone two losses of his career.
Muhammad Naimov vs. Nathaniel Wood
Result: Muhammad Naimov def. Nathaniel Wood via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Updated records: Naimov (10-2 MMA, 2-0 UFC), Wood (19-6 MMA, 7-3 UFC)
Key stats: Naimov had more than 40 percent more total strikes than Wood, more than twice the control time and four takedowns.
Naimov on the fight's key moment
“I fight hard. This is MMA. They can drop you, you can drop them. It doesn’t matter. Whoever fights hard, he will win. He dropped me this night, I dropped him back and forth. I hope they’re going to give us a bonus. I want to get a bonus. Dana White, please give me my bonus.” (The Naimov-Wood fight was not awarded a UFC 294 post-fight bonus.)
Naimov on getting sick before the fight
“Yesterday, what happened with me, only my coaches know, and my father knows, because he is here. When I cutting weight, I felt some sh*t. I never felt that before. My eyes got so dark. I felt really bad. And then at the night, after rehydration, I threw up a lot. Whatever I drank, I threw up. Whatever I ate, I threw up. I don’t know what’s going on with my body. And then my coach says, ‘Hey, Mohamed, we have to call your manager. We have to stop this fight.’ I said if you’re doing that, you’ll never see me again. I swear.
“I talked with my father. He’s here in Abu Dhabi. He said, ‘Listen: In your school time, you were always fasting and during the fasting, in the street fights, you always won. Nobody f*cking stopped you. Go and f*ck up this guy so bad. Just think like this: Don’t think you’re hurt. You threw up a lot. You didn’t recover good. Just go fight as much as you can and I will be proud of you. If you stop this fight, if you make some excuse, I will be really mad. This is my mentality. This is how I’m built. I’m not from the library. I fight hard.”
Naimov on what he wants next
“I want to fight again January or February and fight Alex Caceres. Nathaniel was No. 17 or 18, something like that, and I believe Alex Caceres (is ahead of him). So I want to fight him.
“Or maybe, if not Alex Caceres, there is one legend: He needs to retire. I’m going to help him to retire. His name is Edson Barboza. He’s got a spinninig heel kick, but my spinning heel kick is like Tajik style. It’s going to be a helicopter fight because he’s going to spin, I’m going to spin back. That was an impressive (win for Barboza vs. Sodiq Yusuff). I don’t care. Even Sodiq Yusuff – I can beat Sodiq Yusuff, too. I just know how to beat Edson Barboza. That’s it.”
To hear more from Naimov, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 294.
