Victor Valenzuela made the most of his short-notice opportunity at UFC Fight Night 274, defeating Max Griffin by unanimous decision at Meta APEX and dedicating the win to his recently deceased grandmother.
Valenzuela, now 14-4 in MMA and 1-0 in the UFC, stepped in after receiving a late call from his manager Jason and outpointed Griffin, who falls to 20-13 overall and 8-11 in the UFC.
"When I had my last fight in Japan, I spoke to my grandma, and she told me shad a dream that good news was coming. She didn't know what, but good news," Valenzuela said. "She told me, 'Please take care of yourself and stay active, and you never know what can happen.' Basically she meant don't get too big or heavy or getting your weight back. I followed it, and a week later I got a call from my manager, Jason, who says, 'Hey, are you willing to take a fight on short notice in two weeks.' I put two and two together, and that's exactly what my grandma was talking about. I took the fight and took the opportunity, and that's why I'm here now."
The 32-year-old, who has been competing in MMA since 2013, said he tried to treat his UFC debut like any other bout: "I believed in myself and just wanted to make it seem like it was any other fight."
Looking ahead, Valenzuela kept his ambitions straightforward. "Honestly I have no plans," he said. "I just walked into the company right now. My plan is to at least fight two more times this year and we'll see when I start positioning myself in the rankings."
