Chris Fishgold Desperate To Make His UFC Debut And Prove He’s Ready To Mix It With The Best
Former Cage Warriors lightweight champion Chris Fishgold will see his vacant belt find a new owner at the Cage Warriors 96 on Saturday night as he waits patiently on the sidelines waiting to make his UFC debut.
On the Monday morning after UFC Liverpool earlier this year, Fishgold was given the surprise of a lifetime when he met his manager Graham Boylan at a hotel in Liverpool. Speaking exclusively to Jim Edwards last week, the Liverpudlian described the scenes and the emotions he went through upon learning he’d finally got the call to the world stage.
“Everybody kept saying that after the next fight it would come, after the next fight it would come ever since I was like 8-0,” Fishgold said. “It got to the point though that I was 17-1 and all that time I’d been promised so many times without hearing anything. It got to the point that I wasn’t expecting it to be honest with you.
“I met my manager in a hotel and we were just having a coffee. He just said to me ‘I need you to hold this up for me for one of your new sponsors.’ So, I was holding up these signs and then one of them said ‘Congratulations Chris Fishgold, you’ve just signed for the UFC.’ My mind went absolutely crazy. I just couldn’t believe. Words can’t describe it. I don’t know what winning the lottery feels like, but this was probably ten times that because I worked so hard to get there. I finally get the chance to show people how good I am. It’s an amazing and exciting time for me and I probably won’t believe it until I walk into the Octagon.”
Prior to signing for the UFC, Fishgold had stated his intentions to make the move down to featherweight and capture the Cage Warriors 145-pounds title. Despite now signing for the UFC and fighting at lightweight since 2015, Fishgold says he will still be moving down a weight class when he makes his UFC debut.
“Yeah, I’m definitely still making the move to 145-pounds,” Fishgold said. “Don’t get me wrong, if a last-minute fight at lightweight comes my way, I’ll take it, but I’m planning on debuting at 145-pounds. I’ve cleaned up my diet a lot now and my girlfriend is basically cooking me healthy meals every single night. I don’t walk around that heavy and I’ve had a lot of fights at featherweight already so it’s not a big deal for me making 145.”
Despite signing for the organization back in May, Fishgold is yet to have his debut fight booked. Having now not fought since Oct. 2017, the Liverpudlian is desperate to make his Octagon debut.
“I need to fight this year and I need to fight soon, I’m desperate,” Fishgold said. “I want to fight right now. I don’t care where they put me, I’ll turn up and fight anywhere. Give me every card for the rest of the year. I want to fight as much as possible and I’m willing to fight anyone.”
Fishgold is usually a quiet and reserved character but there are two fighters on the UFC roster he appears desperate to fight. Both Artem Lobov and Nad Narimani are currently booked for fights in the next few months, but Fishgold has his way he will get to put them both to the sword at a later date.
“I’m not going to call anyone out because I’ve only just got here, but if I’m honest, I’d absolutely love to fight Artem Lobov,” Fishgold said. “That’s not because I want an easy fight, but because I don’t like him. He would be the easiest fight I could have at this weight. He’s s***.
“Artem is somebody I want to fight because I don’t like him, and I want to hurt him, Nad the same. He’s a domestic level fighter. If you gave me Nad I’d run through him inside a round.”
Whilst Narimani and Lobov are both desired future opponents, just making his UFC debut as soon as possible remains the focus. The former Cage Warriors champions believes he’s destined for the top of the featherweight division and he’s now just focused on getting to prove it to the world as soon as possible.
“Apart from them I just don’t care,” Fishgold said. “Just give me anyone and I’ll prove how good I am. I know they aren’t going to give me anyone in the top-10 straightaway, but trust me I’m going to make people realize very quickly I belong there. I’m only 26 and I know I belong there.
“I’m ready to impress and I know that nobody will be able to keep up with the strength or pace that I bring. I can five rounds all day, but I can sprint for three and nobody is going to be able to handle it.”
Watch our previous interview with Chris earlier this year:
