Athletes
Farid Basharat | Leveling Up
Undefeated Bantamweight Reflects On Past Year Ahead Of Return To Action At UFC 320
It has been nearly a year since Farid Basharat crossed the threshold into the Octagon, having last competed at UFC 308 last year in Abu Dhabi. Bad timing and bad luck have conspired against him, resulting in a longer layoff than the ascending bantamweight would certainly have liked, but in that absence from competition, the 28-year-old has grown as both a fighter and a man.
“The biggest positive out of it is that when I do fight, it will be an accumulation of a year’s worth of training, not just four months of improvement,” said Basharat, who faces Chris Gutierrez on Saturday night at UFC 320. “Had I fought in February, when I had wanted, from when you saw me in October, you would have seen a 4-month improvement. Now you’re seeing a 12-month improvement.
How To Watch And Stream UFC 320: Ankalaev vs Pereira 2
“These kinds of things have taught me to be more mature, just in general about life,” continued the undefeated bantamweight. “(It’s helped me) to understand that not everything is in your control, and if it’s not in your control, don’t worry about it; just take the positives from it.”
As simple as it sounds and as much as “control the controllables” is one of those self-help phrases that has been kicking around the Internet and turning up on Etsy creations for years now, it’s still a legitimate lesson that is difficult to learn. We think we can fix everything, dictate everything, control everything. When that doesn’t happen, it rattles us—some more than others.
The trick — and it is tricky to learn and achieve — is to understand the number of things you can’t control vastly outnumber the things you can, and worrying about the former instead of focusing on the latter is an express pass to stress, anxiety, and all kinds of other things no one should actively subject themselves to.
Basharat has learned that lesson soon than most.
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“I used to worry too much about ‘I need to get a fight in this window, and this window,’ but we plan, and God plans better,” he said with a smirk and a chuckle, acknowledging the real and powerful truth he was trying to override with his worrying. “Any time someone has been put in front of me, I’ve beaten them convincingly and I’ve looked good doing it. I would say I have been fairly entertaining in the process, showing all skills and attributes, so I don’t want to trick myself out of the race. I’m winning, so just keep winning the race; don’t trick yourself and change too much.
“It gives you a lot of peace of mind,” Basharat added when asked how finding this new level of understanding and way of looking at things has impacted him. “When you’re young, you have a lot of ego and energy, and you want to fight every little battle; every fan, every person that says, ‘You should have done this’ or ‘You ruined my parlay because you didn’t get the knockout.’ Even if it’s a family dispute: when you’re young, you’re ready to fight for every little thing, but as you get older, you realize what’s really important and just fight the battles that you need to fight.
“The other stuff? Just relax.”
One of the other elements that has helped him return to Las Vegas calm, focused, and ready to just handle the assignment set forth in front of his this weekend is that he’s spent the previous year stationed at American Top Team, developing him skills amongst the all-star cast of coaches and fighters that call South Florida home.
Basharat and his older brother Javid have always trained at quality gyms with quality people around them, and they’ve had a tremendous amount of success overall. So when Farid raves about the improvements he’s made over the last 12 months and breaks down why he believes ATT has paid such immediate dividends for him, it immediately makes sense and resonates.
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“Firstly, there is just a lot of good knowledge here between Mike Brown, Artem Levin, King Mo, (Steve) Mocco,” he began, detailing the key factors that have made the itinerant competitor establish roots in the dorms at the Coconut Creek, Florida facility. “There’s so many guys that have 20, 30 years of knowledge in this game and I’m just picking and choosing. It’s like a buffet of knowledge.
“Secondly, I would say that I’ve always been well-rounded, but I’ve elevated everything. If I was a 7/10 in everything before, I’m now an 8/10 or a 9/10. I’ve sharpened everything. I’ve sharpened every tool even more.
“Through the years, in every generation, their methods worked, and it gives me peace of mind.”
Earlier in his career, the conversations leading up to a fight would have included gripes about being held back, not getting the opportunities he wanted, and frustrations about not yet having climbed into the Top 15 in the ultra-competitive 135-pound rankings.
Those were battles Basharat wanted to fight and often brought up himself, making him irritated and annoyed. There was a misguided sense of urgency — a feeling like everything had to happen right now, and, if for some reason it didn’t, that was a failure on his part.
Now, slightly older, but considerably wiser, those things no longer concern him. All he’s worried about is whether he’s continually making improvements and using each opportunity he gets to step into the Octagon and compete as a chance to continue showing that in time, he will stand amongst the best the division has to offer.
“My first year was very active — I was happy about that — and the last two, I have been not so active, but what’s most important to me is have I made improvements in my development and my game? Absolutely I have. That’s money in the bank. As far as going out there and fighting, getting in the rankings, that’s gonna come.
“I’m still undefeated and whoever they’ve put in front of me, I’ve beaten them comfortably, and they’ve put some tough guys in front of me. I’m very happy and that’s all because I’m leveling up all the time in training, and October 4 at UFC 320, you’re going to see a massive jump—the biggest jump in my career as far as improvement goes.”
UFC 320: Ankalaev vs Pereira 2 took place live from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on October 4, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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