Las Vegas — After a run in Bellator MMA, Levan Chokheli made a big, and quick, promotional debut at UFC Vegas 119 on Saturday.
The welterweight took less than 30 seconds to put away Leon Shahbazyan, brother of UFC middleweight Edmen Shahbazyan, in their preliminary card fight. The TKO finish was set up with a leg kick, finished with punches, and couldn’t have gone better for the Georgian.
Following the win, Chokheli (15-3, 1NC) said he’ll be heading home for a bit before getting back in the gym. After that, he’ll be looking ahead to his sophomore effort. “When I come back from Georgia, I’m going to push UFC to give me a fight,” he told media outlets including Cageside Press following his debut at the Meta Apex in Las Vegas.
Fighting in Bellator gave him an advantage in his UFC debut on Saturday, he added. In the now-defunct promotion, he shared the cage with the likes of Lorenz Larkin and Sabah Homasi, among others.
“I think it gave me an advantage, because I was fighting there with monsters. Former UFC fighters. Now I’m 29-years old, and I had a lot of fights back then, and I think now I’m getting in my prime. I don’t need to get more experience. Almost 30 years. I need to fight. I don’t need to fight to keep my record up or rank me. I need top fights now to get a title fight as [soon] as possible.”
Chokheli also addressed whether he has wrestling in addition to the striking prowess he showed in his debut.
“I’m Georgian. My wrestling is good, but I would rather stay on the feet and throw my hands,” he stated.
Watch the full UFC Vegas 119 post-fight press conference with Levan Chokheli above.