Yaroslav Amosov is wasting no time calling for bigger challenges after submitting Joel Alvarez at UFC 328.
Amosov finished Alvarez with an arm-triangle choke in the second round of their welterweight bout, which closed out the prelims at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The victory moved Amosov to 2-0 in the UFC and pushed him to No. 10 in the promotion’s official welterweight rankings.
“After my first fight (in the UFC) I felt this – I felt many people started following me,” Amosov said, reflecting on how his profile has changed since joining the roster. He added, “When you’re a UFC fighter, it’s a little bit different. I talked with many guys who maybe were champions in different organizations, and it doesn’t matter if you were a super champion or defended your belt a couple times. If you’re not a UFC fighter, people don’t respect you the same way. Of course, they respect you – but not like (if you were in the) UFC. You can talk with somebody and they can be a super champion, but people ask, 'Oh, this is not UFC?' … If you’re not a UFC fighter, it’s not the same for people. But if you are a UFC fighter, people react differently.”
Amosov noted the step up he hopes his next booking represents: “My first fight was (Magny), not from the top 15. Second guy, (Alvarez), also not from the top 15. But now I was ranked 14, and I hope I move a little bit up (after UFC 328). Maybe now my name is a little bit different.”
Looking ahead, he has a clear target from the same card: “I want to fight the guy who wins. I think that makes sense. I need something to talk about for a fight and I think this makes sense because it’s the same card, same day.”
