Sultan Aliev kicked off the UFC Fight Pass portion of the UFC On Fox 22 preliminary card this past Saturday Night, defeating Bojan Velickovic by split decision. Although it was the first time Aliev had been in the octagon in nearly two years due to various injuries, the fighter still felt that he played it a little too safe in his UFC return.
“I didn’t risk in this fight, and I fought cautious, but it ended up well,” Aliev told MMA Junkie via an interpreter. “I’m satisfied that I got the victory, but I didn’t show everything that I could. So I’m not really satisfied 100 percent.”
After his win at UFC On Fox 22, Aliev said he would like to fight the winner of the evenings co-main event between Mickey Gall and Sage Northcutt (Gall won by second round submission) and Aliev believes he knows just how the fight would go for him. “Easy,” he said.
Aliev is currently 1-1-0 in the UFC, defeating the previously mentioned Bojan Velickovic, while suffering a defeat to Kenny Robertson at UFC On Fox: Gustafsson vs. Johnson. Aliev also competed in the final Bellator MMA Middleweight Tournament, losing to Doug Marshall in the semifinals.
