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Javid Basharat: ‘He’s Never Fought Anybody Like Me’
Bantamweight Javid Basharat Puts His Undefeated Record On The Line Against Victor Henry at UFC 294: Makhachev vs Volkanovski 2 in Abu Dhabi
At UFC 294: Makhachev vs Volkanovski 2, undefeated Javid Basharat looks to extend his 14-fight winning streak against Victor Henry.
The Afghan-born bantamweight captured everyone’s attention in 2021, when he earned a third-round submission victory – his 11th straight finish – on Dana White’s Contender Series. Basharat’s fought three times in the Octagon since earning a UFC contract, walking away with a unanimous decision victory each time out.
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A Las Vegas resident, Basharat’s had the luxury of driving only 10 minutes down the road from his home to the UFC APEX for his last four fights. This past week, Basharat took around a 17-hour flight to Abu Dhabi for his clash with Henry.
Basharat began his combat sports career in Taekwondo at around 13 years old, shortly after Afghanistan’s Rohullah Nikpai won the nation’s first medal in any Olympic event, earning bronze in Taekwondo at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.
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“I started with Taekwondo,” Basharat said. “I was really good at that when I was young, but I was just doing it because my parents put me in it for self-defense and I had too much energy as a kid. I was just fighting my brother all the time and they were like, ‘No, you need to go into Taekwondo, blow off some steam.’
“At that time, Taekwondo was quite popular in Afghanistan. [I wasn’t training in Afghanistan], it was actually in England, but there was a medalist, I think [Afghanistan’s] first bronze medal in Taekwondo, so my parents thought it was the right fit and we joined a local club.”
When he first started training Taekwondo, Basharat didn’t see a career in mixed martial arts. Unfamiliar with the UFC, Basharat was only exposed to the world of boxing, which didn’t pique his interest until he transitioned into MMA.
“I always knew I wanted to be a fighter, but I didn’t know there was a way to be one,” Basharat said. “[Growing up] I didn’t know UFC was a thing. I knew about boxing, but I thought it was like WWE; it wasn’t real. Once I found out that this was real and it was a sport and you can make a career out of this, I was like, ‘This is a no brainer.’
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“I actually have a lot better boxing than what people think I do. I feel like I am one of the best boxers in the UFC, but if I say that now, people are going to laugh because I haven’t shown it in my fights, but it’s because I find MMA such a different sport.”
Like Basharat, Henry has a very diverse set of skills and has finished opponents with various techniques both on the feet and on the ground.
At this stage of his career, Basharat only thinks about progression, and how he can challenge himself against someone with different techniques or more experience than him. Henry, who has 29 professional fights to his name, represents the latter.
“It’s going to be a great fight,” Basharat said. “It’s going to be a very technical fight [and] maybe a hard fight. He’s just very experienced and it’ll be great to test myself against somebody like that, but also, he’s never fought anybody like me. No matter how many people he’s fought. He’s going to look at his record and be like, ‘Oh, this guy was a little bit like him,’ but as a whole package, he’s never fought anybody like me.”
UFC 294: Makhachev vs Volkanovski 2 took place live from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE on October 21, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
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