Australian UFC star Josh Culibao says he’s got plenty of room for improvement despite his victory over rival Melsik Baghdasaryan in last week’s UFC 284 in Perth.
Culibao came back from a brutal groin strike early in the fight to defeat the Armenian two minutes into the second round of the featherweight belt with a rear naked chock.
28-year-old Culibao was struggling to breathe after the low blow and was afforded the five minutes to recover before taking the fight to Baghdasaryan and recording his third straight win.
But the fight was always destined to be controversial. Baghdasaryan grabbed Culibao by the throat during the weigh in, a move the Australian couldn’t explain.
Yikes! Melsik Baghdasaryan gave Josh Culibao a nasty shove to the throat at their #UFC284 faceoff. 😳
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) February 11, 2023
Full staredowns: https://t.co/1M9nbNJ1xX pic.twitter.com/G9k7RgaCU6
“He decided to get a little bit physical at the stare down, I don’t know why,” Culibao laughed on SEN’s Them’s Fightin Words.
“Maybe because he was in enemy territory and he was getting booed, probably he felt like he was the guy coming in trying to spoil the party.”
Culibao’s win saw Baghdasaryan suffer his first defeat since his professional debut in 2014. The fight was months in the making, with the Australian’s previous appearance a victory over SeungWoo Choi at UFC 275 back in June of last year.
With the enormity of what he’s achieved, Culibao admitted the reality was still yet to sink in but added he’s still on the way up.
“It’s a little bit of a bittersweet thing, all the build up and all the excitement in the lead up to the fight and it all happened and it’s just gone now. It’s onto the next thing,” he explained.
“To be honest, I’m a little bit annoyed with the performance, I wish I could have done a bit better. This is probably just me being a little bit over the top with that, but I’ve watched the fight back a few times and there’s definitely a lot to improve on.
“I’m happy I got to finish in front of my friends on home soil against a guy like him, so I’m very happy about that.
“But on a side note, I’m a little bit annoyed with the way I performed.”
Culibao’s win was the first by submission in his career in a performance that was among the highlights of UFC 284.