It will be his first main-event appearance in his five-year-long UFC career this week but bantamweight fighter Ricky Simon is treating it just like one of his previous 11 fights that he has fought so far in the company. However, one thing that he is confident about is beating his opponent Song Yadong and hopes the outcome elevates him further in the bantamweight division.
“It feels normal to me. I've been in the big spotlight multiple times in my career. This is my 11th UFC fight. It feels right because everything's coming together making it the perfect time,” said Simon during an interview with hindustantimes.com.
“Everything's coming together at a perfect time. I just turned 30 this year. I feel like all my experience from my past fights is all added up and I feel like I'm so confident going into each fight now, so I'm extra dangerous,” he added.
It took Simon five years to finally headline a UFC event, which only happened because Renato Moicano pulled out from his scheduled fight against Arman Tsarukyan. However, none of this matters to Simon, who is on a five-fight winning streak. In fact when asked how he rates his next opponent Song, who is ranked two places above Simon, the 30-year-old shows respect before declaring he'll walk out with a win.
“I think Song is a very explosive and talented fighter, dangerous as well. But I feel ultimately I have more ways to win this fight and I'm the better fighter in all of the areas. So, I think I can knock him out. I can beat him up for five rounds, so I have many routes to win this fight,” said Simon.
{{/usCountry}}“I think Song is a very explosive and talented fighter, dangerous as well. But I feel ultimately I have more ways to win this fight and I'm the better fighter in all of the areas. So, I think I can knock him out. I can beat him up for five rounds, so I have many routes to win this fight,” said Simon.
{{/usCountry}}Talking about his aspirations for the bantamweight title, Simon added: “At this point there's nobody I care about fighting with. I just want to get to the belt, so whoever is going to make that happen the fastest that's who I fight.”