Saad Awad Knew He Had to Finish Bellator 201 Fight After Breaking His Hand

Saad Awad spoke with MMAjunkie following his win over Ryan Couture at Bellator 201. Highlights are below:

On fighting with a broken hand: “I broke my hand like, four times, and I fought to decisions. So, definitely (I didn’t worry that it would) end the fight for me, but it did give me a sense of urgency. I knew I had to get in there and finish it quick. Because, between rounds, my adrenaline was going to go down, and that’s when it was going to start hurting. Then I would have to point-fight him for two more rounds after that. I broke my hand in my last fight in the first round, so I had to go out there and point-fight for three rounds.”

On a possible title shot: “I was on a three-fight winning streak before, and I think two of them were decisions, and they kind of were like, ‘Oh, kind of boring.’ They don’t tell me that directly, but that’s what I kind of hear. So I put in my head I have to get some knockouts. I think, out of my last four fights, I got two knockouts. I’m going in to try to make statements, and I don’t know how else to put the pressure on them.”

On champion Brett Primus’ inactivity: “It’s given me more time to fight; it’s given me more time to win. I got on a nice little winning streak while they were over there playing paddy-cake or whatever they’re doing. But you can’t blame him. When you’re injured in this sport, you’re not going to want to go out and fight at 30 percent. He wants to be 100 percent, especially since he’s the champ. So give him all the time he needs, but if it takes too long, strip his title and let me fight for it.”