mma / News
Emil Meek Is Happy With His UFC 206 Performance
Image Credit: UFC
Emil Meek spoke following his win over Jordan Mein at UFC 206. Some highlights are below:
On his nerves going into the fight: “I was nervous for sure. But nervous is good. Nervous makes you stronger and sharper and it’s supposed to be like that. When I woke up (Saturday), I had jitters all over me. I was scared, I was terrified, I was happy, I was sad – everything. You never really know if what you have is good enough until you face your opponent. You throw the first punches, you feel it land into you, land on him, then you understand what kind of game you’re playing. My game was strong enough.”
On his performance: “Happy with it? For sure. But can it be better? Absolutely. I wanted to mix more takedowns in it. He took me down in the beginning and I lost a lot of energy in that one, and I didn’t want to get taken down again. And I got a little passive and stuff like that. But he got tired and I managed to show that my cardio was better and that my strength was better.”
On not finishing the fight: “I was not surprised that he was durable, and if anyone says that that’s completely bull(expletive). Who finished him? Matt Brown (at UFC on FOX 7). And you’ve got Thiago Alves (at UFC 183) – who could take a kick to the body like that? Nobody. So that he got finished a couple of times? I got finished a couple of times. I’m still standing here. So Jordan Mein, like I said, he’s got a lot to offer in this sport. And even though he’s lost two in a row now, he’s going to come back, he’s going to come back stronger.”
On having having to trim his beard: “The only thing is that they told me that late. They told me when I was on weight, waiting for the weigh-ins. And like, ‘Excuse me, sir, you’ll need to shave your beard.’ And I’m like, ‘Ha ha, that’s a good joke.’ And they didn’t take any criticism of not telling me before. Like ‘OK, I’m not allowed to do drugs, I’m not allowed to wear anything but Reebok, I’ll only weigh 170 pounds’ … and ‘You can’t have a beard.’ I think that should be in there somewhere.”
