The Long Road: Xiao Long discusses journey toward fighting ex-UFC champ

LAS VEGAS – Xiao Long hopes UFC 326 will be a coming out party.

Long (27-10 MMA, 1-2 UFC) faces former UFC bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt (14-7 MMA, 9-7 UFC) in Saturday’s preliminaries (Paramount+, CBS) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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“I think it will be a very, very good matchup between me and my opponent,” Long said at Wednesday’s media day through a Chinese-language interpreter. “I think the UFC has put a lot of trust in me.”

Although Garbrandt has struggled since losing his bantamweight title, Long knows that fighting a name like that is a big opportunity for him.

“I won’t miss this opportunity,” Long said. “Of course I know he is very popular and very famous in this division, but I will not miss this opportunity and I will make sure everyone knows me.”

Long’s professional MMA record reads 37 fights, which would make him much more experienced on paper than Garbrandt. However, the 27-year-old admits there are some inaccuracies in his record.

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“I think there’s a mistake in my fight record,” Long said. “There are some fights that are not big professional fights, but it’s still a professional experience for me. Of course, the last two years, when I came to the Road to UFC and I fought with a grappler, that’s also a very good experience for me. I think it’s definitely not a big professional record, but it’s still good for me, the experience.”

This article was originally published on MMA Junkie: Xiao Long won’t miss the chance to let everyone know who he is at UFC 326