After racking up five knockouts in a row, Mairbek Taisumov needs a step-up in competition.
Unfortunately for Chechen Mairbek Taisumov, visa issues mean he’s resigned to fighting on the UFC’s European circuit for now. However, once that gets sorted, the top 15 better watch their backs because he’s gunning for each and every one of them.
Tasimumov earned a cool $50,000 performance bonus for his first-round knockout of Felipe Silva at UFC Zagreb in September. In his victory speech, he voiced his frustration over not getting matched up with a ranked opponent, accusing the likes of Anthony Pettis, Michael Chiesa and even Nate Diaz (in a way) of ducking him.
“Nate Diaz is the best; he says if UFC pays him $20 million he’s going to fight me in my home country, but I think he smoke too much.”
BA-BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
Just like that, @Taisumov155 FLOORS Silva in the first round!! #UFCRotterdam
WOW!!! pic.twitter.com/xLUqX6kdkU
— UFC (@ufc) September 2, 2017
That knockout victory marked Taisumov’s fifth in a row which was enough to see him enter the UFC rankings for the first time. Although he’s officially the 15th-best 155 lber in the promotion, he believes he is a top-five fighter. In order to prove that, he wants to take on former champion Eddie Alvarez, as he told Russia Today.
“I call out Michael Chiesa, I call out Nate Diaz, Anthony Pettis… nobody wants to fight me. I’m telling you, these guys don’t want to fight me. Michael Chiesa told me, ‘if you win one fight, I fight you.’ After that, I knocked out two guys. Now he doesn’t want that anymore. When I get a visa, I go over there and I smash these guys.”
Alvarez is currently booked to fight undefeated former WSOF champion Justin Gaethje once the new season of The Ultimate Fighter has finished. With interim lightweight contender Tony Ferguson and now Taisumov mentioning his name, ‘the Underground King won’t be short of match-ups after that fight.
