Siyar Bahadurzada: 'Genius' Greg Jackson predicted how UFC 196 win would play out

Siyar Bahadurzada had to overcome many obstacles at UFC 196.

Among them was his opponent, Brandon Thatch, who was a considerable favorite entering the bout. Add in two years sidelined due to injury, and it’s easy to see why he called the third-round submission win the biggest accomplishment of his career.

Following his victory, Bahadurzada (22-6-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) told MMAjunkie he and trainer Greg Jackson planned on mentally breaking Thatch (11-4 MMA, 2-3 UFC) and counted on him to not be able to handle his natural talent failing him.

“He’s a talented fighter, and the thing about talented fighters is when it doesn’t go the way they want, they break,” Bahadurzada said. “That’s exactly what we planned on with Greg Jackson. We knew he is very talented, but when things don’t go his way, he breaks.

“To be honest with you, Greg Jackson is a genius. He predicted the fight exactly the way it went – first round, second round. Then he said, ‘In the third round, you’ll break him.’ That’s exactly what happened.”

The welterweight bout closed out the preliminary card at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It aired on FOX Sports 1 following additional prelims on UFC Fight Pass and ahead of a main card on pay-per-view.

Bahadurzada had not competed since a December 2013 loss to John Howard at UFC 168. He said he dislocated both shoulders in the lead-up to the fight. Surgery led to even more complications, he said, including almost a year of being unable to sleep and an inability to function in the most basic of ways.

“This is by far the biggest accomplishment of my career because last time I fought, three weeks out, I had both shoulders completely destroyed in camp,” Bahadurzada said. “But I took cortisone shots in both shoulders, and I fought and lost a decision. My shoulders were completely done. When I went back home, I had surgery on both shoulders and couldn’t sleep for 10 months because of the surgeries. I literally went through hell. I literally went through hell. I couldn’t hold a glass of water with either shoulder.

“Fighting back to training twice every day, doing rehab twice every day during a time like that when nobody believed in me – my doctors, everybody said, ‘This is it, you’re done.’ But I still saw the light at the end of the tunnel. For some reason, even in my darkest day, I could see the light. That’s something that I’m very blessed about.”

Following the path to the light, he said, led to a moment he considers the pinnacle of his career to this point.

“From not holding a glass of water to coming back to the UFC to perform at the highest level,” Bahadurzada said. “As you guys know, the sport evolves really fast. To be out of the game for two years and come back and have a win under your belt, I think this is by far the biggest accomplishment in my career.”

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For complete coverage of UFC 196, check out the UFC Events section of the site.