Youssef Zalal: ‘I’m Living in a Movie Right Now’

Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the ESPN app.

The last two years of Youssef Zalal’s career have been a period of dramatic change. He entered 2020 having lost two of his last three fights. On Saturday at UFC Fight Night 179, he will step into the Octagon for the fourth time this year, looking to remain unbeaten in the promotion and notch a fifth straight win overall. It seems like the kind of story best told on celluloid, an assertion the featherweight feels is fitting for his recent travails.

“Man it’s crazy. It’s like I’m living in a movie right now,” Zalal told Sherdog. “It started last year [when] I had lost two fights. So, it was very hard for me to even think about where I’m going to be at [in the future]. You have your coaches, the team, my management; they kind of keep you going. [Tell you], ‘You’re a talented kid. We’ll be back.’ They know what they’re doing. My job is to follow, listen to what they want me to do, and it worked. Like I said, I’m living a fun movie right now. It’s an interesting movie. I’ll tell you that.”

Along with talking about his busy, yet successful year, the Factory X product also spoke about his difficult 2019 and the lessons learned from his failures. In addition, he gave his thoughts on his matchup with short-notice replacement Ilia Topuria and his hopes a win will land him a Top 15 opponent next.