Esteban Ribovics will not be too completely satisfied with how things went down in his last UFC fight, but feels he’ll get a chance to redeem himself within the near future.
Ribovics (14-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) got here up short in a split decision against Nasrat Haqparast (18-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 253 in March. Although they won Fight of the Night and every fighter took home an additional $50,000 bonus, the Argentinian will not be completely satisfied with the entire experience.
“I’m a bit bitter to have lost because losing isn’t good, but I do know I trained hard, and I placed on a show,” Ribovics told MMA Junkie in Spanish. “It could’ve gone either way. He was possibly a bit superior within the judges’ eyes, and you may have to just accept it. Fighting the choice and being upset at it, I’m not going to unravel anything, so head held up high, and I’m going to return back stronger.”
Many online thought Ribovics did enough to get the nod from the judges. Two of the judges gave 29-28 to Haqparast (18-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) and one a 29-28 Ribovics way, leading to the split decision. Nine out of the 11 media members that submitted scorecards on MMA Decisions saw the fight for Ribovics.
“It was very close,” Ribovics said. “Perhaps he did win. He might’ve connected with lets shots, but did more damage, so possibly that’s what the judges’ saw. I had plenty of volume, but they weren’t that strong. I just need to learn from it.”
Ribovics, 28, says all the pieces leading as much as the fight went principally well. Nonetheless, he got very heavy after cut to lightweight and felt it throughout the fight, especially in the primary round, which he lost.
“I felt good in the burden cut, but like I told you, the one thing is that I did feel heavy,” Ribovics said. “With Daniel Zelluber, I stepped within the cage at 177 kilos. For this fight, I bounced back to 185.
“I would like to see what happened within the recovery and why I got so heavy. I felt strong, but very heavy. It was only within the second round where I woke up, and I used to be in a position to get moving. In order that was my only issue, I felt heavy.”
Ribovics hopes to remain lively and is already back in training. He hopes to return in June or July.
So far as Haqparast, Ribovics wishes him well and believes he’ll meet him again within the near future.
“I do know this will not be the one fight we’ll have,” Ribovics said. “We’ll meet one another again. Nasrat, I’ll see you soon, very soon.”
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