After the biggest win of his UFC career, middleweight Wellington Turman could not be any happier about the result.
Having taken a heavy helping of damage from Misha Cirkunov at UFC Vegas 49, the Brazilian caught his opponent in a slick armbar from the guard position. The win warranted an almost instant tap in the second round of the night’s co-main event.
Not only did the win give the Brazilian his first back-to-back victories since joining the UFC in 2019, but it also earned him a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus. In an interview with Combate, an ecstatic Turman talked about what thoughts went through his head during and after the fight.
“I’m so happy. When I got to this gym, I was in the worst moment of my career and now I’m in my best one, with two wins in a row. That’s only the beginning. We work hard, I put so much effort into this. I’m young, I train among the best. Ferlnely Jr, Glover Teixeira, Alex Pereira, Plinio Cruz. There’s no other way. The only way to go is up.”
“(In the first round) I got a good takedown, the rear-naked choke was almost in.” Turman said. “I was growling. I swear, that’s how hard I was squeezing. When I fell down, I guess I was a little tired from all the effort I put into the choke. It’s like my coach said. I was too open, too tentative. They told me Misha was already tired. That he got tired of hitting me. I was on his back with locked in submission. That would make him tired, too. They said I was much faster than him. That’s what happened. I was able to recover better during the break.”
Turman (18-5) entered the bout fresh off a split decision victory over Sam Alvey back in August 2021. Before that, the 25-year-old was on a two-fight losing skid, with knockout defeats to Bruno Silva and Andrew Sanchez.
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