Mirsad Bektic Learned ‘Valuable Lesson’ from Elkins Loss, Hopes to Fight 3 Times in 2018

Mirsad Bektic showed why he remains one of the top featherweight prospects in the sport on Saturday night.

The 26-year-old authored one of the evening’s most memorable highlights at UFC on Fox 27, as he wiped out Godofredo Castro with a body punch 2:47 into the opening round of their preliminary encounter at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C. It was a nice bounce back performance for Bektic, who was coming off a surprising third-round knockout loss to Darren Elkins at UFC 209 — a fight he had clearly been winning for two rounds.

“I feel amazing. In my last fight, I dominated for 14 minutes but I took my foot off the gas and paid for it. That taught me a valuable lesson and that is to always push forward and dominate,” Bektic said. “I feel that my power separates me from the division and I intend to show it each and every fight.”

Other than the hiccup against Elkins, Mirsad has delivered on his potential thus far, winning his other 12 bouts, often in dominant fashion. That includes five Octagon appearances, but Bektic would like to be more active than he has been thus far. He competed just once in both 2016 and 2017, but he already has his sights set on his next opponent.

“My goal is to climb the rankings and fight at least three times this year,” Bektic said. “I’ll be watching the Bermudez-Fili fight and I feel like the winner may be a good next opponent.”

Andre Fili defeated Dennis Bermudez via split decision in Saturday’s co-main event.