Darren Stewart of England reacts after his submission victory over Maki Pitolo in their middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on August 08, 2020 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Darren Stewart lost to Edmen Shahbazyan but he was caught out by a lot of testing before the clash
Darren Stewart is set to face Kevin Holland in his next UFC fight on 19 September.
The English star got back to winning ways against Maki Pitolo in August and was keen to do as many fights as possible during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Middleweight star highlighted that making money was important during the pandemic, and he was certain a second wave was coming that would lead to more problems. Stewart added that no one is looking into records now and getting fights and bonuses was all that he cared about.
While the 29-year-old claimed he has changed his fight mentality and wasn’t thinking of records, he did open up on his loss to Edmen Shahbazyan.
Stewart came into the UFC 7-0 but didn’t win any of his first four fights. He was on a two-fight win streak before facing Shahbazyan but things went haywire.
The 29-year-old exclusively told WERMMA about this. Stewart claimed that the referee told him that without a USADA test done, he couldn’t fight. However, Stewart had already relieved himself after he walked past the testing agents and they had not called him up then.
“A lot of sh** happened before that fight. I just told you one, obviously, he was going to do this and that, but, the commission was fu**** me about backstage.”
Stewart had to take in a lot of liquids to complete the test and that affected his performance in the fight. However, there was more to come for the English star:
“Commissioner comes in about 20 minutes before I walk out saying, ‘Hey Darren, letting you know that you can do your test afterwards.’
“Hold on a minute. I walked past you lot, no one says nothing. Then I come to my changing room, the ref’s threatening me I can’t fight before I get out there.
“Now I am mentally fu**** and I can’t think straight about the fight. Then you’re telling me I can do it afterwards and I am pissing like mad and my belly’s fu***** broke.
“It was mad, it was mad, I was pis**** like crazy.”
Stewart claimed that he might have urinated during the fight too, and his stomach hurt due to drinking too much fluid.
However, he wasn’t taking anything from his rival and the win but he did say that this affected him.
Stewart added that no one knew about this but he was keen on a rematch with Shahbazyan in the future.
The Dentist, as he is known, added that he wasn’t looking to get decisions and always wanted a knockout in his fights.
It will be interesting to see what he does in his next fight. However, it is going to be an entertaining one as he also aims to get the bonus.
This is an exclusive interview from WERMMA. For more exclusive interviews and content please follow the link.
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