LAS VEGAS – Su Mudaerji has been down this one particular road in MMA, and he isn’t sure he wants to trust taking it again.
On it, against Tim Elliott this past December, he maybe kinda sorta thought he had a gentleman’s agreement in place to stand and trade in their flyweight fight. Instead, he soon found himself on the canvas and was submitted in the first round. Credit to Elliott, certainly, but Mudaerji knows now, he says, that hoping to stand and bang and actually standing and banging are two different things.
“Those promises often are broken, even like my last fight – Tim was telling me the same thing: Let’s bang. Let’s (go for a) knockout.’ And within a minute and a half, he start taking me down relentlessly. So I don’t believe in that anymore,” Mudaerji said Wednesday at a media day at the UFC Apex.
The next flyweight who might try to have Mudaerji (16-6 MMA, 3-3 UFC) think he wants to stand and trade is Charles Johnson (16-6 MMA, 5-4 UFC). The two meet on the UFC Fight Night 245 (ESPN+) main card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
“I was very excited when I found out the opponent was him because he’s also a striker – a standup fighter like me, so I think we’re going to put on a show for the fans,” Mudaerji said. “But I do think my opponent will fear striking with me because he’s seen my videos. Most likely, he’ll try to take me down. He wouldn’t want to stand with me, striking with me.”
Hear Mudaerji discuss that, his recent layoff, marriage and family life and more in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 245.
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