Alex Garcia after UFC-Shanghai victory: Who's getting the attention now?

SHANGHAI – Alex Garcia was aware of the hype around UFC Fight Night 122 opponent Muslim Salikhov leading into Saturday’s bout. He shut all that down with a second-round submission win.

Garcia (15-4 MMA, 5-3 UFC) put Salikhov (12-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) away with a second-round rear-naked choke in their welterweight clash, which streamed on UFC Fight Pass from Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, to prove a point as the underdog. Now the focus is all on him.

“Look now: I’m the one that’s getting the attention,” Garcia told MMAjunkie after his victory. “He was getting attention in the beginning. I wasn’t getting any. At the end of the day, I’m getting the most at the end of the fight. So I’m happy with that.”

Garcia was able to shut down Salikhov’s offense with his grappling game, setting up the submission finish. He said he was hunting for that exact technique entering the contest, and managed to get the job done.

The Tristar Gym-trained fighter has alternated wins and losses over his past seven fights and said he hopes to get a more active schedule in order to get into a winning trend. He hopes the UFC will oblige with a spot on next month’s UFC on FOX 26 fight card in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

“Every win feels like the biggest win of my career because winning is very important in this sport,” Garcia said. “You have to win every time to be on top of the game.”

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 122, check out the UFC Events section of the site.