After first UFC win, Ilir Latifi happy not to be fans' punching bag

Ilir Latifi knows he could have been a sad, laughed-at footnote in MMA history. Instead, these days, the Swedish light heavyweight is enjoying a small but growing groundswell of international fan support.

Latifi became a bit of a punching bag nearly a year ago when the little-known wrestler accepted a UFC on FUEL TV 9 headliner against Gegard Mousasi on short notice. The longtime wrestler’s MMA credentials were lacking, but with would-be headliner and teammate Alexander Gustafsson sidelined due to a cut just four days before showtime, UFC officials were forced to scramble.

It ultimately led them to Latifi (8-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC), who said he was at home eating dinner – tipping the scale at 234 pounds – when he got the call.

Few fighters would take a fight on a few days’ notice. Fewer would accept the challenge when they have 28 pounds to cut in three days. And even fewer would do it as part of a UFC debut in a main event against a former Strikeforce and DREAM champion with nearly 40 pro fights.

Latifi, though, didn’t balk at the opportunity.

“I grew up in a way when you get your shot, your chance, you take it,” he told MMAjunkie Radio. “You don’t have time thinking about that other stuff. I know I can fight anybody in the world.”

Latifi lost the fight, dropping each round to the much more experienced Mousasi. But even the biggest skeptics – the ones who mocked the last-minute booking and poked fun at the Swede’s lack of experience – had to give Latifi credit. He accomplished what guys such as Ronado “Jacare” Souza, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Mark Hunt, Melvin Manhoef, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Denis Kang and countless others couldn’t: He survived three rounds with Mousasi.

“And I went into that fight without a training camp, without any sparring,” he said. “I was actually home having dinner – Easter dinner, I think – with my family when they called me and said Gustafssson was injured and nobody would fight him.”

The result? Handshakes and pats on the back. Notes of encouragement from fight fans around the globe via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It also led to a second UFC appearance, where he recently defeated (and essentially retired) veteran kickboxer Cyrille Diabate with a first-round guillotine choke.

“People that understand fighting, they know what you go through doing what I did on short notice.” he said. “I got a lot of good feedback from around the world. But when you go into a fight, you want to win.

“But when you go into a fight with like 30 percent of your capacity, it still hurts. The circumstances don’t mntter. You still want to go in and perform the best you can.”

So when he got that opportunity earlier this month against Diabate at UFC Fight Night 38, he said he got to show those supporters the real him.

“It’s different coming to the fight prepared, and it was important to get a good win,” he said. “It feels nice.”

As for what’s next, Latifi said he doesn’t have any particular opponent in mind. Despite his short stature, he said he has no plans to move to middleweight, so he simply wants to work his way up the 205-pound ladder.

“I don’t have any particular fighter I want to fight, but after this [win], I’d probably like to go up and fight some of the top 10 guys,” he said.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out  UFC Rumors section of the site.

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