LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Brady Hiestand[/autotag] knows exactly what he wants next.
The UFC bantamweight is targeting a fight with [autotag]Christian Rodriguez[/autotag] following his latest win in the octagon, as he wants to steal the hype that Rodriguez took from then-unbeaten sensation Raul Rosas earlier this month at UFC 287.
Hiestand (8-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) called out Rodriguez after his TKO win over Danaa Batgerel (12-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 222 in Las Vegas.
“I saw his fight against Raul Rosas, and I wasn’t super impressed with anything he did,” Hiestand told reporters at the UFC Fight Night 222 post-fight press conference. “I thought he was good, well-rounded, but I like that matchup. We’re both young. He’s what, 25, 26? We both have a lot of growing to do, and I want to take some of his hype that he took from Rosas. So, I want to fight that dude.”
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Hiestand likes Rosas and believes he’ll bounce back from the decision loss to Rodriguez. He just found Rosas’ inexperience to be the determining factor in the fight.
“I got a lot of respect from that kid,” Hiestand said. “We’re very similar in the fact that we’re heavy into grappling. I think he’s got great skills, he was just inexperienced. He’s just young. He blew his load in the first round and got too excited, spammed the double leg. But yeah, I got nothing but respect for that kid.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 222.
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