Dubai: UAE-based kickboxer Gokhan Saki is warning people not to underestimate him ahead of his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debut against Henrique da Silva, at UFC Fight Night 117 in Saitama, Japan, on Saturday.
The 33-year-old Dutch-Turkish light-heavyweight came up second best in his lone mixed martial arts (MMA) bout back in 2004, and the last of his 96 duels (83 wins, 59 by knockout) in kickboxing was two and a half years ago.
Saki, who trains out of Tam Khan’s gym in Dubai Media City and is the first person from the UAE to break into UFC, is up against a younger and more proven MMA fighter in 28-year-old Da Silva from Brazil.
Da Silva boasts a total 15 MMA fights, 12 wins, 11 by knockout, five of which have been in UFC, but the last three of which have ended in defeat.
The Brazilian will be coming out to save his UFC career, while Saki will be trying to prove he deserves his four-fight contract, which he signed in May, despite his MMA inexperience.
UFC Fight Night 117 will be live and exclusive on OSN Sports Action 2HD from 4am this Saturday, with the main cards starting from 6am.
“Some people see me as the underdog, but I think they underestimate my wrestling and jiu-jitsu,” Saki told Gulf News in a phone interview organised by OSN this week.
“The fight starts standing up and that’s my thing, but even if we go to ground, I’m going to be ready.
“I don’t even remember my last MMA fight,” he said of his one and only experience in this format back in 2004, when he was just 20-years-old.
“It lasted seven or eight minutes, I got in at 4am in the morning after a night out with friends and flew to Liverpool at 8am on the day of the fight. They told me it was an MMA fight and I didn’t even know what that was, I thought it was an insurance company or something. The event was organised by a friend so I took the fight because I was young, hungry, and thought it was a good experience at that time.”
But, says Saki, that bout should hold no bearing on where he is as a more all-round fighter today. “A lot of kickboxers go into UFC but they don’t have my footwork and speed, so let people think what they want, I’ll show them on Saturday.”
Of his opponent’s tactics, Saki added: “He’s going to try and take me down but I’m going to try and keep the fight in the middle. He doesn’t have the [expletive] to stand up and fight me, I don’t think anyone in UFC does.
“I feel young and hungry again after stopping [kickboxing] for two and a half years. And I’m going to make a comeback, but I’m not coming back just because I want to fight again. I’m coming to dominate UFC to show what I used to show, and give people what they want to see.
“This time next year I’m going to fight for a title and be the champion, this is within four fights, I’m going to make this happen. If I want something and I’m hungry enough, I make it happen.”
Bearing in mind his opponent had lost his last three fights and would need a win to save his UFC career, Saki said: “I lost three fights in my [kickboxing] career too [in 2009]. At that moment I was hungry but also really nervous, so for him it’s 50-50.
“I’m the most experienced, not in MMA but in fighting, he’s lost his last three, the fight starts standing up, he’s young and hungry, but I’m back hungry again after two and a half years, so I wish him luck.”
