A prominent fighter scheduled to compete at UFC Vegas 106 has revealed he nearly gave up on his career while struggling to recover from significant injuries and make his way back to the octagon.
Following the UFC 315 pay-per-view event in Montreal, Canada, the premier mixed martial arts promotion returns to its home base at the Apex facility in Las Vegas this Saturday. The upcoming UFC Fight Night card at the smaller venue will feature a ranked welterweight clash headlining the event, where Gilbert Burns aims to hand Michael Morales his first professional loss.
Beyond the main event, several compelling narratives are set to unfold on the undercard. Among the most notable is the comeback of a fighter who has been out of the spotlight.
Sodiq Yusuff Contemplated Quitting Amid Injury Issues Post-UFC 300
UFC Vegas 106 will mark the much-anticipated return of former featherweight contender Sodiq Yusuff. The 31-year-old from Nigeria has not competed since suffering a quick, brutal knockout defeat to Diego Lopes just over a minute into their bout at the landmark UFC 300 event.
In an interview with E. Spencer Kyte for UFC.com, Yusuff shed light on the reasons behind his lengthy 13-month period of inactivity, disclosing that severe back injuries led him to seriously consider retirement.
“It’s just been a lot of injuries; a lot of spinal and disc injuries,” Yusuff stated. “A few herniations in my back and a few in my neck, so it’s just been dealing with that, being able to mitigate it and trying to get the body to get back in order.”
He described how close he came to ending his career: “This has probably been the closest I’ve ever been to hanging it up, just because my body wasn’t keeping up anymore. There was one day I was trying to push through a practice and everything hurt at the time.”
Yusuff emotionally recounted a specific difficult moment: “I was in the middle of wrestling practice and I was having a hard time, constantly getting stingers, my back is locking up, and I literally left practice crying; I left in tears. I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know how much longer I want to do this for.’”
Sodiq Yusuff Makes Significant Career Change for His First Fight Since UFC 300
Adding another layer of intrigue to Yusuff’s comeback is his decision to compete as a lightweight fighter for the first time in his UFC tenure. The Nigerian athlete has opted to leave the featherweight division behind in favor of experiencing less strenuous weight cuts at 155 pounds.
Relieving himself of the significant stress associated with making a large weight cut could be beneficial as Yusuff prepares for a tough challenge at UFC Vegas 106. To secure his first victory since 2022, ‘Super Sodiq’ must halt the momentum of Mairon Santos, an impressive 15-1 prospect and winner of The Ultimate Fighter.
Should Yusuff deliver an impressive performance and get his hand raised, he could potentially establish himself as a formidable new threat in the lightweight division.
Gareth Pendleton