Las Vegas — Heavyweight Adama Diop was criticized by Dana White for a “sloppy” fight on the Contender Series on Tuesday, but was signed to the UFC anyway after the Senegalese fighter landed a knockout of Zaurbek Sabanov in the second round.
“I haven’t shown much yet, but today was just a little piece of what I can do. I can do a lot more, I can show a lot more, so more to come in the future,” Diop (7-1) said following the fight, speaking via translator with media outlets including Cageside Press.
In regards to White’s criticism, “Blinde” stated that “That’s normal, he’s the president. He has experience.” At the same time, Diop knew that he was “here to get the contract,” and had to simply “get the job done” rather than worry about how the fight might look.
Moving forward, given he’s about to see a move up in competition, “I’m just going to improve myself, improve my technique and everything knowing that this is the highest fight league in the world,” stated Diop. “And knowing that there’s a lot of dangerous fighters here, just going to make sure I work hard and get my level even better.”
One aspect of Adama Diop that stood out on Tuesday was his personality, with the fighter dancing. On that front, he told media members on Tuesday that “There’s a lot more to come. Once I’m in the UFC, there will be songs coming out, there will be performances coming out, it will be much more entertaining in the future.”
Watch the full Dana White’s Contender Series Season 10 Week 8 post-fight press conference with Adama Diop above.