Alexander Yakovlev Looking to Move On To Top-Ranked Fighters

Alexander Yakovlev spoke with MMAjunkie about his win over George Sullivan at UFC on FOX 18. Check out the highlights:

On his career trajectory: “I want to be the best, just like any other fighter in the UFC. To be the best, to get recognition, of course you need to fight top-ranked fighters. I will get more name recognition if I fight better fighters, top-ranked fighters, so pretty much, that makes sense to fight a top-ranked fighter.”

On the fight’s knockout finish: “My team has been drilling this a lot. Early on, I saw I could do this. My coach told me to counter and it worked. You know, when I hit him, I wasn’t sure the fight was over. That’s why I followed up. If I knew he was out, I would not have followed up. I had to keep going until the referee stopped it.”

On his next fight: “Matchmakers will decide what’s next for me. For me, just like any other fighter, the dream is to be the best at what we do. That’s what I’m trying to do. I just picked this path, and I just follow that path and I stay on that path. Whatever they put in front of me, I just try to do my best. UFC will tell me what’s next for me.”