In a truly bizarre moment, at UFC Vegas 104, Diyar Nurgozhay, let his coach spit in his face, moments before he had to set foot inside the octagon.
After weeks of hard work and preparation, the Kazakhstani’s final moments before trading leather with Brendson Ribeiro, were spent bracing himself for the water fired in his direction.
Going into the fight, the 27-year-old was embroiled in controversy when he missed weight by five pounds. Some fans even said Dana White should cut Nurgozhay.
Regardless, the fight went ahead, and it didn’t go the way the previously undefeated mixed martial artist would’ve liked.
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Diyar Nurgozhay let his coach spit on him before defeat at UFC Vegas 104
On Saturday evening, in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, Diyar Nurgozhay went head-to-head with Ribeiro.
Just as he was about to enter the cage, the warrior braced himself, as his coach took a massive gulp of water, before spraying it all over the fighter’s face.
Rather than getting angry at his trainer, this appeared to motivate the athlete for the fight. However, it still wasn’t enough to get the job done.
Going into the match-up, Nurgozhay, was a big favorite and expected to cruise his way to victory. However, after missing weight, concerns about his preparation were raised.
Early on, he struggled to overcome his opponent’s solid defense, and with his adversary pushing the pressure, he began to tire.
In the second round, Ribeiro smelled blood in the water, locking in a Kimura, which forced his foe to tap.
Israel Adesanya named on two-man hitlist after Roman Dolidze outpoints Marvin Vettori at UFC Vegas 104
In the main event, Roman Dolidze went toe-to-toe with Marvin Vettori in a big rematch.
While the Italian emerged victorious the first time around, it was a completely different scenario in the second contest.
The Georgian utilized his fight IQ to win a rather one-sided decision on the cards.
In his post-fighter interview, Dolidze called out Israel Adesanya and one other UFC star.