Though he had just one fight in 2017, UFC flyweight Ben Nguyen couldn’t be much more pleased with how his bout turned out.
Against Tim Elliott in June at UFC Fight Night 110, Nguyen was able to come away with a 49-second first round submission win, giving him back-to-back victories for the first time since 2015.
“I’m really happy with that fight,” Nguyen told MMAWeekly.com. “I think that night I performed the best I’ve performed in my career, up until that moment.
“I was really nervous for that fight and I didn’t know how things were going to play out. Tim is a bit of a wild card and you don’t know what to expect, but I made it look easy. I don’t know how I did it, but I did it.”
While some fighters might be frustrated by only having one bout in a given year, for Nguyen, he’s more apt to be able to have the off time to develop his game.
“If you look at it as a calendar year, yeah, it’s only one fight, but I fought (previously) back in November of 2016, which wasn’t that far off from where I fought Tim,” said Nguyen. “I think I’d rather have it this way.
“It gives me time to focus on a specific skillset and things that aren’t fight-driven. I don’t have to train for specific fighters; I can work on different skills and conditioning. It makes me different for every fight. I’m never the same fighter.”
Nguyen (17-6) will look to pick up his third win in a row when he faces Jussier Formiga (20-5) in a preliminary 125-pound bout at UFC 221 this Saturday in Perth, Australia.
“I feel like the fight is going to be an important one – (Formiga is) ranked #4 in the world right now,” Nguyen said. “It could definitely be a title-contendership fight.
“He’s dangerous on the ground, like every fighter I’ve fought in the UFC, and I feel like we have really focused and worked on defenses against his strengths: rear-naked chokes, submissions, back-taking positions. Once we’re able to shut that down, anything is possible.”
Although he hasn’t fought in his native Unitized States in nearly two years, Nguyen is happy remaining in his adopted homeland of Australia for now, and focusing on working his way up the ranks in 2018.
“I feel that when I’m fighting for the UFC, I’m fighting on the world’s stage, so it doesn’t matter where I’m fighting,” said Nguyen. “The local (Australian) scene has really been behind me – they’re great fans – so I’m basically an adopted Aussie now.
“My goal for 2018 is to be in the Top 5. My goal in 2017 was to make it into the Top 10. I’m just trying to climb the rankings and hopefully get that title shot eventually.”
