UFC Nashville: LI's Dennis Buzukja finally gets the call, will fight Sean Woodson in debut on short notice
Dennis Buzukja poses for a portrait at the LAW MMA gym where he trains in Garden City. Credit: Dawn McCormick
Dennis Buzukja's parents planned a trip home to Albania several months ago. They asked their son if he wanted to go with them.
He said no.
"I can't go because I gotta be ready for a short notice call," he said.
On Tuesday morning as he drove them to the airport, he contemplated getting himself a ticket to go with them. He didn't, though.
"I can't, you know, until I'm in," Buzukja said. "I just don't want to risk it."
An hour later, as he was driving to Longo and Weidman MMA in Garden City to train, his phone rang. It was his manager, Danny Rubenstein. Turns out Buzukja knew what he was talking about, because guess who landed himself a UFC fight in Nashville on four-plus days' notice?
Buzukja, who lives in Merrick, will face Sean Woodson (9-1-1) in a featherweight prelim bout on Saturday on ESPN. Cory Sandhagen and Rob Font headline the card at Bridgestone Arena.
"There were so many emotions going through my head, but then more than the emotions, it was more of what am I going to do?" Buzukja said. "I gotta start cutting weight. I gotta start water loading. I gotta prepare for the opponent. I gotta watch some tape on him. I gotta get my corners situated. I gotta get my medicals done. When am I flying out? I gotta pack. All this was running through my head literally at the same time as I'm at the gym. I got everybody coming up to me congratulating me. So it was just like everything happening at once and then I got people calling me. It was just a crazy few few hours."
This was the moment Buzukja has spent the past few years waiting for, the chance to put those UFC gloves on officially, to sign the fight poster, to be the guy teammates are there for as opposed to him being there for teammates such as Al Iaquinta and reigning bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.
"The best part was putting the gloves on," Buzukja said. "Because I never in my life wanted to put the UFC gloves on until it's my own gloves that I'm in. And now the time finally came, and they fit good, man."
He's been close before.
Buzukja (11-2) first fought on "Dana White's Contender Series" on Sept. 1, 2020, missing out on a chance to earn a UFC contract on the spot after losing a decision to Melsik Baghdasaryan as he tried to push through lung issues brought about by a long fight against COVID-19.
Three wins and two years later, Buzukja got a second shot on the "Contender" series. He beat Kaleio Romero by unanimous decision but couldn't put him away in the final round. Only Joe Pyfer received a UFC contract on that first episode of Season 6.
From there, Buzukja was in the UFC's bullpen just waiting for the call. Not so much for the "stay ready and we'll be in touch" call -- which he got a few times -- but rather that "pack your bags, bro!" call. That call came Tuesday. By Wednesday morning, he was on a plane to Nashville. By Wednesday afternoon, he had his bloodwork done, got all his medicals in order and had his cornermen all squared away.
"Right now, I'm not thinking about anything," he said. "I'm not thinking about the UFC. I'm not thinking about, you know, the lights or anything. My only focus is on those 15 minutes in the cage and how I'm beating this guy."
Buzukja (11-2) has fought three times -- all wins -- since that second "Contender" appearance, winning by knockout, submission and unanimous decision.
The first fight was earning his way here. The second fight is against himself as he'll have just a few days to cut weight to get the 146-pound limit for featherweight. Then he can get to the actual fight against Woodson, a 31-year-old from St. Louis who last fought to a split draw against Luis Saldana a year ago.
"You have to be disciplined as hell," trainer Ray Longo said about cutting the weight. "I think he wants it so bad that it'll be OK."
Buzukja didn't sound too worried Wednesday about getting down to 146 pounds before 11 a.m. Friday.
"I'm gonna just have to rotisserie chicken [myself] for a few hours," he said. "Part of the game, but this is what I asked for. It is what I signed up for. I wanted it, now I got it."
Buzukja will be the fourth scheduled opponent for Woodson at UFC Nashville. But while that may affect Woodson's preparation this week, the few days' notice also doesn't give Buzukja much time to work up a game plan or train specific techniques just for this opponent.
That's where experience helps. Buzukja has 13 pro fights on his resume, and a longtime trainer of three UFC champions in his corner.
"He's been sparring everybody as of five days ago. He put the time in," Longo said. "It's not like he's coming off the couch. I mean, he has been literally sparring. He's been active, and I worked with him last week as if he had a fight. This is what you've been waiting for. This is what you've been training for."
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
