Ilir Latifi‘s night in Dublin was a short one as he dominated American wrestler American Chris Dempsey at The 02 Saturday night at UFC Fight Night Dublin. The Sledgehammer showed his hands early, looping both right and left hands to the head of the former middleweight.
But, it was the kicks that began to slowly cripple the debuting fighter. “Perfect time to show my standup” says Latifi in his post-fight interview with Dan Hardy in the Octagon. In the end it was a sequence of one more hard right leg kick that stumbled Dempsey to the cage, that was finished with a straight right hand stiffening the American as he fell to the ground.
“It’s nice when you win fast!” comments Latifi. In the end it was only 2 minutes and 7 seconds before the bout was stopped. The Swede now raises his recrod to 8 wins and 3 losses overall, and an now has a two fight winning streak after stopping Cyrille Diabate in just 3 minutes last March.
Latifi was not at all perfect as his back-flip celebration wasn’t as good as his striking. “I love fighting here in Ireland, you are the best” says Latifi.
Look for the Allstars Training Center fighter to play a role later in the year as the UFC puts on a Nordic show.
