Undefeated Azamat Murzakanov steps into one of the biggest fights of his career at UFC 327 on Saturday night, where he meets former title challenger Paulo Costa.
Murzakanov (16-0) joked ahead of fight week that he wasn’t even sure Costa would show up, taking a playful jab at his opponent’s history of withdrawals.
“I feel good about the fact that he actually made it here, and that’s great,” Murzakanov told reporters including Cageside Press through a translator on Wednesday.
“I haven’t seen him, but I think the good way to do is to just lock him up until Saturday and make sure he doesn’t run away.”
The undefeated Russian had some fun with Costa in the lead up to the fight. He previously said that if he got to 100k followers on Instagram that’d he walk out with the Brazilian flag at UFC 327. Murzakanov had to clear that part up a bit, but he did double down on saying Brazilians, in large part, want him to win.
“I think the trick is it was said that 100,000 BRAZILIAN followers so it’s not the full amount, but I don’t think I have 100,000 specifically Brazilians. Come on, keep going, we’ll see,” he said.
“It’s true. I get a lot of Brazilian people writing me personal messages, rooting for me, hoping that I win this time around. The thing about the flag, honestly, that was mostly a jest. Just a joke. I do have my own flag that I represent that I’m planning to come out with.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Azamat Murzakanov above. He faces Paulo Costa at UFC 327 on Saturday night.