Athletes
Abdul Razak Alhassan Is Determined To Shatter Expectations
Middleweight Abdul Razak Alhassan Enters His UFC Fight Night: Dawson vs Green Bout Versus Joe Pyfer Hoping That Another Win Streak Is Upon Him
Abdul Razak Alhassan knows what it’s like to be the hot new prospect on the roster.
Entering the UFC at 6-0, Alhassan earned himself a Performance of the Night bonus after a knockout win 53 seconds into his debut against Charlie Ward in 2016. Since then, though, the 38-year-old has gone 5-5 in the Octagon.
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Despite the ups and downs, Alhassan believes he has come out the other side even stronger than before.
“When I went through the losses, I remember I was not ready here [points to head], and I was not ready here [points to heart] because of all the distractions.” Alhassan told UFC.com, “I hated it [losing], every last part of it, especially as a fighter. Nobody wants to be on the other side of it, but it's a good experience because you get to learn from that, you get to learn and come back from it, so I’ll take it with pride, and then I’ll let everyone else pay for it.”
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We last saw Alhassan take to the Octagon in January, where he scored a second-round knockout over Claudio Ribeiro at UFC Fight Night: Strickland vs Imavov. Alhassan had been itching for that feeling of victory after dealing with an inconsistent patch in his career.
“It feels very good, especially when you’ve been up and down a little bit. It feels really good to come back and find your spot, find yourself, and the best place to find yourself is in the ring.”
The middleweight will return for a bout on Saturday at UFC Fight Night Dawson vs Green, as he takes on Joe Pyfer, an 11-2 middleweight who, similarly to Alhassan, has made noise in the MMA community for his impressive performances.
Having said that, Alhassan commented on the upcoming matchup, explaining to UFC.com that “He’s a good fighter; in the UFC you never look down on anybody. Everybody brings some type of threat that you have to be careful of. But he’s never seen anybody like Razak.”
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He followed that with, “When this animal steps in front of him, he’ll realize everybody who has stood in front of him, they were nothing.”
The two have both had some exciting knockouts in their UFC careers and aren’t afraid to throw some explosive punches.
“It’s always good when you’re fighting someone that also brings a lot of power; you’re like, ‘Okay, let’s show the world, let's see who has that power.’”
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The Ghana native is ready to get his hand raised on Saturday night and send a message to anyone who doubts that he is prepared to take the fight anywhere Pyfer wants to go.
And he is thriving off the doubt that people have about him.
“Everybody who’s looking down on me right now, on Saturday night, this is what I’m gonna give all of you guys [points middle finger].”
UFC Fight Night: Dawson vs Green took place live from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 7, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
