CHICAGO – [autotag]Timur Khizriev[/autotag] got the win and 3 points in the opening round of the 2024 PFL featherweight season, but he’s convinced there was room for much more.
Friday, Khizriev (15-0) defeated veteran Brett Johns in a unanimous decison on the preliminary card of PFL 2024, Week 3 at Wintrust Arena. Although it was a clean victory, Khizriev doesn’t think he performed at his best against Johns (20-4), and he has an idea as to why that happened.
“To be honest, I’m not fully happy with my performance,” Khizriev said in Russian through a translator in his post-fight interview. “Obviously, a win is a win, but I just feel like I wasn’t fully there. My normal energy wasn’t present, and I think it was partly because of Ramadan. I was fasting, and the last day was specially hard for me. Normally, I don’t have a problem with weight cutting and this time I had a little trouble, so I don’t think I was fully recovered.
“But again, we’re moving on, and hopefully the next fight will be more interesting.”
Johns chose a heavy grappling approach, something that didn’t surprise Khizriev. Khizriev just thought he would’ve been more dangerous on the ground when it came to grappling with Johns, which leaves him with a sour taste despite keeping his unbeaten record and moving on with three points to the final season bout.
“No, I was not surprised with him wrestling,” Khizriev said. “As a matter of fact, I felt that was the only chance he actually had. With striking, I think he realized he didn’t have a chance with me.
“I’m just not really happy with the way I was on the ground today, and I know he has wrestling. I know he has fought good guys like (Aljamain) Streling and you know, I was expecting that. But again, it wasn’t the best performance, but we’ll get another chance.”
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2024, Week 3.