“I’m confident in myself and I know that I can crush anyone in the lightweight division,” Ismagulov said at a press conference in Las Vegas. “I have the last fight under the contract, and I am ready to fight like the last time in my life”
“After this fight, I’m going to clear the lightweight division. I think I’m still dangerous and I want to put everyone in the top 10, top 5. I am ready to prove to everyone, including myself, that I am ready for more, I can do more “
“After this fight, I would like to fight Gaethje. He is considered the most dangerous striker in the lightweight division, he says that he is a gangster, but I am ready to play him like a kitten. He will recognize the Kazakh school of boxing, he will see it, and he will not even see the punches, so this is an easy fight for me.”
On July 1, at UFC on ESPN 48 in Las Vegas, Damir Ismagulov will share the octagon with American Grant Dawson, and four weeks later, Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier at UFC 291 in Salt Lake City will play for the vacant BMF title.