LI's Nazim Sadykhov sets own bar high entering his second UFC bout
Give Nazim Sadykhov an arena full of 15,000 people to fight in front of and he’s cool with that.
But, put him in the UFC Apex in Las Vegas in front of maybe triple digits in attendance — as will be the case this Saturday — and he’s cool with that, too. The Serra-Longo fighter from Massapequa by way of Brooklyn by way of Azerbaijan is there to work.
“A job is a job and the mission is to win, win impressively,” Sadykhov told Newsday. “So like I always say, I'll do it in a closet, in a jail cell, in an elevator, in the Apex or at MSG. Doesn't matter where we're going to throw down.”
This particular agreed-upon act of violence will take place in the UFC’s octagon located inside the Apex for UFC Vegas 77. Standing opposite Sadykhov will be fellow lightweight fighter Terrance McKinney.
It is the second UFC fight for Sadykhov (8-1), and it is slated for the first fight on the main card on ESPN, a step up from streaming as the featured prelim last February and on the “Contender Series” last August.
“The bar has been set high for me, and I love it. I'm here for that,” Sadykhov said. “This is what I'm in the UFC for, to set the bar high, to make history, to break my own records every single time I step in there, to be better and better and do more and make more.”
Sadykhov, 29, won his last fight by third-round TKO due to a doctor’s stoppage after a deep cut opened near Evan Elder’s eye. He was happy with the win, but both Sadykhov and his trainer Ray Longo said he needs to slow down and pick his shots more.
“He's a guy that when he gets hit, he gets more motivated, which we like and don't like,” Longo said. “We don't want to see him get hit. But he's got the tenacity and he's got the killer instinct and all the other attributes that go with it.”
McKinney (13-5) has finished opponents in all 13 of his wins (eight submissions). The 28-year-old from Spokane, Washington, also was stopped in all five of his losses (four knockouts).
McKinney has gone 2-2 since making his UFC debut in 2021 with a UFC lightweight record seven-second knockout of Matt Frevola, a teammate of Sadykhov. That’s not necessarily a source of motivation, at least maybe not until after the fight should Sadykhov emerge victorious.
“I just don't have beef for my opponent,” he said. “My motivation stays the same and that's to win. But coming out with the victory is going to be a little bit of, like, this, ‘Hey, Matt, I got you, bro. We got this one back.’”
With Carissa Kellman
Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.
