Get to know TUF finalist Kaan Ofli, who wants Ortega-Lopes backup spot at UFC 306
Kaan Ofli
Age: 31
Record: 11-2-1
Nickname: “Genghis”
Division: Featherweight
Opponent: Mairon Santos
Path to final: Decision win over Nathan Fletcher, first-round submission of Roedie Roets
On getting to the UFC
Kaan Ofli
“Now it feels real. Before, in the “Ultimate Fighter” house, that whole experience still didn’t feel real. But it feels real now. Now I believe in myself. Now I believe that I was meant to be here this whole time.”
On his TUF experience
“For me, for me it was probably the best experience I’ve had in my whole life. Being able to have no distractions, complete focus, just martial arts, you know, training, fighting, eating, martial arts, no phone electronics that to me, that was the best experience that I could have had. I don’t think I’ll ever about experience that again, but so I thrived from it and it’s really leveled me up both in, in, in many ways. There was nothing hard about it.”
On opponent Mairon Santos
Mairon Santos
“I respect Mairon. I think that he’s young, talented. He was already meant to be signed to the UFC before, so he’s already been on the UFC’s radar. I’m happy to be in the finale with the with the prospect. I didn’t really picture anyone in the finals with me going into the house. I was prepared to fight anybody. I had a thought that I could be fighting my own teammates, as well. As much as we Team Grasso kept it friendly and family, I still knew in the back of my mind that I could have been fighting any one of these guys.”
On his ambitions in the UFC
“I’ve already pre-planned my career. I’m 31 years old. I’ve been doing this for a long time. After this fight, I’d like to be a backup fight for Diego Lopez and (Brian) Ortega (at UFC 306). It’s pretty soon. It’s only like three weeks after, but I’m here. When we’re talking about this fight, I thought it was going to be in The Sphere and I always had a dream of fighting on the moon. When The Sphere ended up happening and, (Alexa) Grasso and (Valentina) Shevchenko were fighting on it, I was like, Cool, you know, the (TUF) finale is going to be at The Sphere. Amazing. My dreams have come true.’ Not the case, but hey, I’m down for it. If I’m healthy, I’m all good. If something does happen with them, I respect the both of them. But I’m here and I don’t know if the UFC will do something like that, but I just want to let them know that I’m up for it.
Kaan Ofli, HEX Fight Series, 2023
“I think becoming ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is spectacular on its own. Put that aside. I want to be fighting in the top 15, top 10 guys right away. You know, I don’t care about fighting my contract out or anything like that, and renegotiating, I I simply just want to climb the ranks as fast as possible. I believe in myself. I believe I’m a top 10 fighter already, so no time to waste.”
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