For bantamweight Austin Bashi, his continued work to establish himself as someone to watch in his weight class comes with facing fighters who will give him difficult fights, such as his most recent opponent, James Dunn, did at XFC 45 on August 6.
While Dunn was able to last three rounds, Bashi was ultimately able to take control of the bout and pick up the unanimous decision victory, marking his fourth straight victory to kick of his pro career.
“What you see there Friday night was exactly the game plan we had,” Bashi told MMAWeekly.com. “Just wrestle him, wear him out, break him, and get our hand raised.
“He was tough. I had to keep fighting for when I wanted that takedown. He stuffed me a few times so I had to keep shooting, keep shooting. Later on he started to wear down and the takedown was a little easier to get.”
For Bashi facing opposition that will push and test him is exactly what he wants to help make him the best fighter he can be each fight out.
Tyron Woodley: “I’m representing MMA” and the OG’s in Jake Paul boxing match
“I’m very happy with these last nine months have gone with these four fights,” Bashi said. “All four of my fights were very tough, but it was very good to have these type of opponents to start off my career because it tells me a lot about myself. Getting all these wins have been very good for me.
“I feel like each fight I’m learning more about myself and getting better and better. Not just from the fight itself, but the pre-fight, the weight cut, the training, backstage, just kind of growing and learning more about the fight game.”
Winning streak in toe, Bashi is looking forward to closing out the year with at least one more bout and head into 2022 with a lot of momentum behind him.
“I’d like to hopefully get one more fight before this year ends,” said Bashi. “I’d like to make it 5-0 before 2022 starts.
“I don’t like to call out opponents or anything. Whatever opponent is available that’s the opponent we’ll fight. I’d like to have a fight every two to three months, so hopefully that happen in two to three months.”