Last weekend's event at the Prado vs Zellhuber match, there was a situation in the corner of the ring that caused many spectators and boxers to question what coach Francisco Prado said. with his student. Accordingly, at the end of the second round, coach Asim Zaidi - CEO of Team GOAT SHED gave comments in the corner of the ring that were translated by the UFC interpreter as "You don't need to use your eyes. Keep fighting." Get out into the middle of the floor and keep fighting!”
Coach Asim Zaidi believes that his comments in the corner for Francisco Prado in the recent loss to Daniel Zellhuber were not fully translated, then exaggerated and misjudged.
More specifically, after two balanced rounds at the Mexico City Arena, Prado (12-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) returned to the ring with a severely damaged eye due to punches from Zellhuber (15-1 MMA). , 3-1 UFC). Prado told the team he couldn't see anything, which prompted Zaidi to tell his fighter: "You don't need those eyes."
With Prado's eye so swollen that it obscured his vision, the comments, translated by the UFC announcer, raised doubts about whether Zaidi was being too dismissive of his athlete's safety. Zaidi admitted to knowing that Prado's vision was affected, but his comments revolved around motivating his fighter to overcome difficulties so he could win the final round.
“The translator translated it as, 'You don't need those eyes. Continue fighting. Get out into the middle of the floor and keep fighting!' While what I said in full was: 'You don't need to use your eyes. If you fight in a clinch (two fighters in an embrace), you won't need to look. Don't hit in the middle of the floor because you need to observe to control the distance. Take him to the fence, use the clinch and grapple, then you won't depend on being able to see or not anymore."
"Before round 3, my boxer and I actually had a movie moment between: Rocky Balboa and Coach Mickey. We were both ready to die for victory. He said he didn't see anything because So I immediately came up with a strategy to continue fighting."
“The translator, unfortunately, couldn't translate properly and made me look like a lunatic - that's not what I meant. The interpreter did his job well, he was just a little nervous. I told Prado that eyes are essential in long-range combat. Don't do it in the middle of the floor. I asked him to focus on striking (standing skills) when clinching or wrestling at the fence so that he would no longer be so dependent on eye injuries.” Regardless of the coach's statements or explanations, quite a few People in the MMA community said that Prado should not have continued to fight round 3 with those eyes. However, the doctor allowed Prado to continue after a medical examination.
Judges Miguel Jimenez and Junichiro Kamijo had the fight tied 19-19 with Round 1 for Prado and Round 2 for Zellhuber. The remaining judge - Rick Winter thinks Zellhuber leads 20-17, 10-9 in Round 1 and 10-8 in Round 2.
Prado showed fighting spirit in Round 3, trying to play with that damaged eye. However, Zellhuber did not give up the advantage and won the Final Round 10-9 on all three scorecards & won unanimously with 3 scorecards 29-28, 29-28 and 30-26.
The fight was awarded Fight of the Night after the event, with the two each taking home an additional $50,000 in prize money. And although Prado will feel the effects of the latter match, Zaidi said he has no regrets about his advice or the decision to let Prado continue in the final match.
“The score was clearly 1-1 going into the third period,” Zaidi said. “Whoever wins that round wins. There isn't any fighter or coach who would throw in the towel if they were in my position. For a beginner, asking to throw a towel is very simple. Most beginners don't understand the sacrifices a fighter has to go through."
“Francisco, his training partners, my assistant coach (Mango) and I were all away from our families, living in a town in Mexico for three weeks - we all lived in one apartment. tiny houses, bucket baths and honing skills in the mountains. My fighter is not going to go through all those sacrifices and then give up in the third round of a close fight. We live by the sword and are willing to die for the sword. And I myself am willing to die to see my fighter succeed.”
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