Athletes
Nasrat Haqparast: 'I’m Hitting My Prime’
Lightweight Nasrat Haqparast Looks To Show His Best Performance To Date When He Collides With Esteban Ribovics At UFC Fight Night: Kape vs Almabayev
After securing five wins in six fights between 2018 and 2021, UFC lightweight Nasrat Haqparast earned two significant opportunities to face top names in the 155-pound division and make a push for the rankings.
Haqparast faced fan-favorite Dan Hooker at UFC 266, then seasoned veteran King Green five months later at UFC 271. Despite losing both bouts by unanimous decision, Haqparast believes those experiences were crucial in building the confidence and drive to keep pursuing a spot in the highly competitive lightweight Top 15.
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“I don’t like to mention a lot of circumstances, but the circumstances were very bad for those fights,” Haqparast said. “There is no excuse. They beat me on fight night. I think it made me grow because I could tell, even with horrible circumstances, I went to a decision with top level guys. This gave me a lot of motivation to keep going with discipline and never stop.”
“I’ve never happy about a loss but… it’s an achievement itself to hang with the Top 15 guys and go 15 minutes with them, especially if you’re not in your best shape. If I’m in my best shape and lose, I would be very upset, but given the circumstances, I would say it’s not too bad.”
While Haqparast didn’t dive into the specifics of those circumstances during his fight week interview with UFC.com, since overcoming those challenges, he’s won four straight inside the Octagon, including wins over John Makdessi, Landon Quiñones, Jamie Mullarkey and, most recently, Jared Gordon.
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The latter three wins came within a nine-month span, during which Haqparast also earned a Performance of the Night bonus for his win over Mullarkey. Since his victory over Gordon in June of last year, Haqparast has focused on refining his skills before returning to action against another surging prospect, with the goal of breaking into the rankings by year’s end.
“I think the break was very good because I could rest a little bit and focus on my skills,” Haqparast said. “But we never stopped training. We kept training and improving, and Saturday is show time.”
“I really think I haven’t shown all my best skills yet in the Octagon. Fighting is also different. To fight, you grow over the years, and I think now I’m hitting my prime.”
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This Saturday at UFC Fight Night: Kape vs Almabayev, Haqparast faces Esteban Ribovics, who’s coming off his best year as a pro, including a knockout win over Terrance McKinney and one of the best fights of 2024 against Daniel Zellhuber at Noche UFC inside Sphere.
“I think he’s a very talented fighter,” Haqparast said. “He’s a hard worker and he’s skilled, so only respect to him. I’m very excited for Saturday because stylistically I think this is going to be a crazy fight.”
Speaking of crazy fights, Haqparast’s last outing against Gordon was a 15-minute war. Haqparast outstruck Gordon 146-141 in significant strikes and stuffed 13 takedown attempts. Like Ribovics, it’s in Haqparast’s DNA to meet his opponent head-on, making their upcoming clash at UFC APEX a must-watch for fans.
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“I think it’s just natural me,” Haqparast said. “If I try to force things different, I think I could not perform to my best. It’s just me. Some things, you have it or you don’t have it. You can train to a certain level, the heart, the grind and the toughness, but either you have it or you don’t have it, and I think I have it. I’m born for this.”
UFC Fight Night: Kape vs Almabayev took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on March 1, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!