'I will be champion'… Dana White sent bold message from newcomer after impressive UFC Vegas 103 win
03/02/2025 04:51 AM
Last night's UFC Vegas 103 card was a mixed bag with six of the 10 fights on the card going all the way to the judges' scorecards.
The first of those six decisions was scored by Uzbekistan warrior Ramazan 'Temurlan' Temirov, who was able to outwork veteran Charles Johnson to an impressive UD win.
Temirov is now 19-2 as a professional and 2-0 under the UFC banner – and if the flyweight prospect's post-fight callout is anything to go by, 'Temurlan' is certainly a fighter who fans will want to keep an eye on.
Dana White sent bold message by newcomer after UFC Vegas 103 win
Speaking to the media after getting his hand raised over Johnson, Ramazan Temirov would make his feelings crystal clear about how far he thinks he could go in the UFC.
"Hey Dana, inshallah, I will be the champion. I will clean this division, inshallah. Kai Kara-France, Brandon Moreno, [Alexandre] Pantoja, no problem – inshallah, I am champion… I am ready, I am Uzbek."
Temirov revealed that he'd like to make his return to the octagon sometime in the Summer and ideally in the Middle East, as travel visas to the US are hard to come by from his home country.
"I'm going to be ready for the next one around Summertime, and I don't care who's going to be in front of me. It could be [someone] in the Top 5, Top 10, but I would love to fight against the top guys because it'll push me to become a champion as soon as possible.
"I really want to be on the big stages, in big arenas; I have a lot of fans all around the world, but I would love to perform in Abu Dhabi…. I really want to fight against the Top 5 five guys."
His performance even caught the attention of flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja, who joined the ESPN post-show alongside Manel Kape to offer his reaction to the event.
"The [fight between] Charles Johnson and new guy, Temirov, beautiful fight too – for three rounds that was very fast-paced."
Ramazan Temirov kicked off a so-so night of action at UFC Vegas 103
Temirov's unanimous decision win over Johnson followed into three more decisions; with JJ Aldrich, Danny Silva, and Chepe Mariscal all securing wins via the judges' scorecards.
Mario Pinto then sent Austen Lane to the shadow realm with a walk-off KO, earning a $50K bonus before calling the finishing sequence 'absolutely trash'.
British welterweight Sam Patterson scored a massive underdog KO against Danny Barlow, before Hyder Amil and Nasrat Haqparast both secured split decision wins of their own.
In the co-main event of the evening, Cody Brundage barely survived 'mouthpiece gate' before rallying back to earn a first-round finish over Julian Marquez.
Then, in the main event, Manel Kape finished Asu Almabayev in the third round – although there's a sizable Asterix next to that victory after Kape was accused of cheating via eye pokes.
UFC Vegas 103 is in the books – next stop, UFC 313: Pereira vs Ankalaev.
