Middleweight Wellington Turman shares his thoughts following his comeback win at UFC Vegas 49.
After the biggest win of his UFC career, middleweight Wellington Turman could not be any happier about the result.
Having taken a heavy helping of damage from Misha Cirkunov at UFC Vegas 49, the Brazilian caught his opponent in a slick armbar from the guard position. The win warranted an almost instant tap in the second round of the night’s co-main event.
Not only did the win give the Brazilian his first back-to-back victories since joining the UFC in 2019, but it also earned him a ‘Performance of the Night’ bonus. In an interview with Combate, an ecstatic Turman talked about what thoughts went through his head during and after the fight.
“I’m so happy. When I got to this gym, I was in the worst moment of my career and now I’m in my best one, with two wins in a row. That’s only the beginning. We work hard, I put so much effort into this. I’m young, I train among the best. Ferlnely Jr, Glover Teixeira, Alex Pereira, Plinio Cruz. There’s no other way. The only way to go is up.”
“(In the first round) I got a good takedown, the rear-naked choke was almost in.” Turman said. “I was growling. I swear, that’s how hard I was squeezing. When I fell down, I guess I was a little tired from all the effort I put into the choke. It’s like my coach said. I was too open, too tentative. They told me Misha was already tired. That he got tired of hitting me. I was on his back with locked in submission. That would make him tired, too. They said I was much faster than him. That’s what happened. I was able to recover better during the break.”
Turman (18-5) entered the bout fresh off a split decision victory over Sam Alvey back in August 2021. Before that, the 25-year-old was on a two-fight losing skid, with knockout defeats to Bruno Silva and Andrew Sanchez.