Evan Elder discusses his first career UFC win at UFC Vegas 77
Evan Elder is the UFC win column after putting on a nice showing at UFC Vegas 77.
Ahead of UFC Vegas 77, Elder’s UFC career could be summed up as a series of unfortunate events.
After starting his career with an undefeated 7-0 record, Elder got the call to fight in the UFC, but the debut would be on short notice and in a weight class higher than he normally fights.
That of course isn’t the most ideal situation for a fighter to be in and Elder would end up having his first career loss in his UFC debut as Preston Parsons got the better of Elder in there 15 minute contest.
Following that fight, Elder got a full camp and a fight in his weight class, but once again, Elder had an unfortunate break.
In that fight with Nazim Sadykhov, Elder won the first two rounds and was five minutes away from picking up the win, but Elder would end up getting cut really badly in the last round and the octagon side doctor stopped the fight.
Now losing the first two fights of his UFC contract and two remaining, Elder felt pressure ahead of his UFC Vegas 77 fight as he felt a loss would result in him being cut from the promotion.
Elder wants to remain in the UFC and with all the pressure on him, he shined.
In his UFC Vegas 77 fight with Genaro Valdez, Elder used his jab perfectly throughout the three round and he would end up knocking down Valdez twice and hurting him really badly one other time.
Valdez did have a knock down of his own in the second round of the fight, but outside of that brief knock down, Elder was clearly the better fighter.
After the 15 minutes of the fight were over, Elder got his hand raised with his family in attendance at the UFC Apex and the emotions were high as Elder got to celebrate with his family after the win.
Now Elder gets to relax for a little bit at his home in Missouri before heading back to Florida to train as he’s planning on fighting one more time this year.
Elder’s next fight will mark the last on his UFC contract, so he knows there will once again be pressure in that fight, but he’s planning on once again rising to the occasion and signing another contract with the UFC.
Following his victory, Elder spoke with MyMMANews to discuss his first career win, the emotions of having his family there for that special moment and his long-term plans to stay with the UFC.
You can watch his full interview in the video above.
