PERTH, Australia – Blake Bilder beat Shane Young with a unanimous decision Saturday on the preliminary card at UFC 284 at RAC Arena in Perth, Australia.
Take a look inside the fight with Bilder, who won his official UFC debut after a contrat win on Dana White’s Contender Series this past August.
Blake Bilder vs. Shane Young
Result: Blake Bilder vs. Shane Young via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Updated records: Bilder (8-0-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC), Young (13-7 MMA, 2-4 UFC)
Key stat: Bilder landed more than 60 percent of his total strikes on the way to his first decision win since 2019.
Bilder on the fight's key moment
“He’s a very linear fighter, and he doesn’t do very well off of lateral movement. So what we’re doing is just getting off to the side, feigning, get him to make a mistake, and then when he bites, boom: Place one – not hard, but just touch, touch.
“And then he’s frustrated because he can’t pin me back. What he was trying to do is – I could read him like a book – he was trying to pin me back against the cage, almost like a boxer and a ring. But I wasn’t allowing it, and I was getting back to the center and just making a move a lot, and he wasn’t feeling that.”
Bilder on playing the villain
“It feels fantastic, because my whole career, basically, I’ve been going in people’s backyards and ruining their day in front of their family and their friends and their loved ones. It’s nothing new. It’s just a job. It’s not personal. It’s just what I do.
“I’m like the superhero-turn-villain. I love it because I worked so hard for everything that I’ve got, and I really do go above and beyond. If anybody knows me, they know my work ethic is second to none. When I get to go in people’s backyards and be the underdog, I thrive off of that.”
Bilder on what he wants next
“I want to get active, baby. (I) want to start working up the ladder. I think we just beat the No. 1 guy in all of Canada for the Dana White’s Contender Series – that was Alex Morgan, No. 1, four pro titles, and now we just beat Shane, who I think he was No. 69, and I was No. 110. I don’t really see the (top) 10 after that one, but it’s there.
“So I’m excited to see where the ranks go. I’m excited to break into the top 15 and show what I can do and show what I’m made of and put on great performances for you guys. I didn’t get the finish, but I promise we’re going to be getting finishes very soon.”
To hear more from Bilder, check out the video of the full post-fight interview above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 284.
