Ricky Simon’s Homecoming

The last few years haven’t been the easiest for Simon, who comes into this fight having lost his last three to Song Yadong, Mario Bautista and Vinicius Oliveira. Prior to those fights, Simon was a prospect in the bantamweight division that a lot of people had their eye on, as he was on a five-fight win streak. 

It’s no secret that the 135-pound division is one of the most stacked in the UFC, with Merab Dvalishvili sitting atop the throne. Simon acknowledged the level of talent that he has been competing against over the past few years but said this time around he really needs to “bring out the dog more.”

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“I know I belong with the best in the world,” Simon said. “I've been fighting for the UFC for years. I've been ranked Top 15 in the UFC, as well, so I’m just going to take that with me. I know I can do it. I've just got to go make it happen.”

Simon has found the balance of pushing forward and remaining positive, while also still letting the wound of losing sting a little bit, in order to help drive him to become a better athlete for the next fight. 

“I definitely try to stay positive, but I let it bug me a little bit, because I want to feel that extra a little bit of pain when I'm running hill sprints or sparring the extra rounds; it's just extra motivation for me,” Simon said. “I still feel plenty confident, and I think that comes from my training, so it's easy to stay positive when you're confident in training.”

Simon’s fight with Basharat was one of the final few to come through when building out the UFC’s return to Seattle, but that didn’t stop the 32-year-old from training and being ready. He spent some time enjoying his Christmas and the holiday season, but right after, he was back into training, but he had all the confidence in the world that they would call on the kid from Vancouver, Washington to compete on this card. 

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Now, he has a big test against Basharat, who is coming off a no contest and a unanimous decision loss in his last two fights. Prior to those fights, Basharat was undefeated in the Octagon, picking up wins over Trevin Jones, Tony Gravely and Mateus Mendonça. 

Saturday’s matchup is a big opportunity for both men to get things back on track and kick start their 2025 campaign, and it’s a chance for another display to show the depth at 135 pounds.

“When I got the call to fight against Javid, I knew the name already,” Simon said. “I know he's a tough fighter. I definitely watched him fight before, and this weight class of bantamweight in the UFC is just full of killers, stacked. I think it's going to be a highly competitive fight and we both bring the action, so it's going to be exciting.”

The game plan for getting his hand raised on Saturday night is simple: bring out the dog. With the Washington crowd cheering him on during his walk to the Octagon, Simon is confident he’ll be the one leaving with his hand raised, and that’s all he has been visualizing.

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That certainly would be one way to compete for the first time in your home state in eight years. 

“All I've been doing is visualizing the win, raising my hands, walking around here, and everyone from the PNW screaming my name.”