KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Azamat Murzakanov had to push through with a broken arm to secure his UFC on ESPN 44 win.
Murzakanov (13-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) revealed that he broke his arm in Round 2 of his unanimous decision win over Dustin Jacoby (18-7-1 MMA, 6-4-1 UFC) this past Saturday at UFC on ESPN 44 at T-Mobile Center.
Murzakanov won the first two rounds. However, he appeared to slow down significantly in Round 3 due to his compromised arm, which he said he broke after dropping Jacoby late in Round 2.
“Jacoby is a great fighter,” Murzakanov told reporters, including MMA Junkie, through an interpreter. “To be honest, I was quite worried because I knew somewhere by the end of the second round that something is really wrong with my arm. I couldn’t attack with my arm at all. I couldn’t throw anything out, and in the third round I was worried because I wasn’t sure who was gonna win, because I could only work with my front hand. I even started throwing out some elbows because I couldn’t at all attack with my left.”
The unbeaten fighter hopes to draw a top-ranked opponent next as he looks to storm through the light heavyweight ranks.
“I would love to fight somebody in the top 10, even possibly the top five,” Murzakanov said. “I want to do whatever I can to get myself as close and as fast to the title as possible. I’m not here to just stick around, to get some gold points for fighting more and more. I really want to get to the title. That’s what I’m here for. So that’s my goal, is to get to the top 10, top five as soon as possible.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 44.
