Athletes
Javid Basharat | 'The Snow Leopard' Returns
Talented Bantamweight Discusses Withdrawing From Fights, Shifting Camps Ahead Of Return to Action In Seattle
There are elements to the fight game that will forever be unknowable to anyone that isn’t a fighter or part of a team, no matter how closely they watch the sport or how much content they consume. Some pieces of this puzzle are destined to be foreign to those that remain on the outside of the cage looking in, and can only be understood in full if you’ve experienced them.
One such scenario is the decision-making process behind withdrawing from a fight, which is something Javid Basharat unfortunately had to do last year.
Scheduled to face off with veteran Chris Gutierrez in early August, the Dana White’s Contender Series (DWCS) graduate had to bow out of the contest a week before the event, resulting in an extended stay on the sidelines that will finally end this weekend in Seattle when he steps in with Pacific Northwest native Ricky Simon.
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“It’s stupid how hard it is, and I’ll tell you why I use the word stupid,” began Basharat, explaining what went into his decision to withdraw and the mental struggles that accompanied the situation. “Going into the (Aiemann) Zahabi fight, I went into it with the same injury. A week or 10 days out of the Gutierrez fight, the exact same injury happened again.
“I went into the Zahabi fight not able to do certain things, and my coaches were like, ‘You did that last time and you weren’t happy with it; why is this such a hard decision?’
“And it still was!” he added, laughing. “You see why I use the word stupid? I didn’t sleep for two nights, but ultimately, I have to listen to the people around me.”
What added to the dynamic was that Basharat was coming off consecutive bouts where he officially didn’t get the results he desired.
After his bout with Victor Henry at UFC 294 was ruled a no contest when the Californian was unable to continue following an accidental low blow, he stepped in with Zahabi, landing on the wrong side of the scorecards in a tight, technical battle that resulted in the first loss of his professional career.
Though he believes he did enough to merit the nod, the 29-year-old bantamweight admitted that the fight was far too competitive and close for his liking and that he was not satisfied with his efforts. So when faced with a similar injury in the days leading up to his scheduled bout with Gutierrez, Basharat offloaded the final decision to his team, agreeing to accept and adhere to whatever they felt was best.
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“I was in great shape, I was so motivated to get back, and then my coaches said to me, ‘Last time, you made the decision,’” recalled the talented Afghani fighter. “I have a friend named Khalid who is also one of my coaches, and I always consult with him. Last time, after the fight with Zahabi, I told him, ‘From now on, you make the decision; I don’t make the decision.’
“Remember when Farid’s opponent missed weight?” He asked, referencing his younger brother’s bout with Victor Hugo at UFC 304, where the Brazilian tipped the scales at 145.9 pounds, resulting in the scheduled bantamweight contest being shifted up a weight class. “I wasn’t there, but Khalid was cornering him, and I told him, ‘You make the decision,’ and I was able to sleep well that night, because I knew he was in the hands of somebody I trust.
“And that’s ultimately it — we consult our coaches, but you need someone that’s known you for a while, knows your personality and your way of thinking.”
For Basharat — and likely many other athletes that similarly offload the final decision to coaches or managers — it’s not that he doesn’t want to be the one making the call on whether to compete or not; it’s that he knows he will always be confident in his skills and abilities, regardless of the obstacles in front of him, and that can lead to forging ahead in moments where falling back would be best.
Additionally, when the decision is someone else’s to make, the weight of feeling like you’ve let people down no longer falls on his shoulders.
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“You feel like you’re letting yourself down and letting other people down,” he said of withdrawing from a fight. “Because I put the decision in the hands of somebody else, even if the decision is wrong, I’m at peace with it, because I put it in the hands of someone I trust.
“Two days before the fight, that’s when reality kind of sinks in,” he added, chuckling. “(You think), ’How stupid was I? I could barely do a press-up and I was thinking of fighting.’”
Back at full health and champing at the bit to finally make the walk again this weekend, the skilled member of the DWCS Class of ’21 is thrilled to be stepping in with an experienced hand like Simon, recognizing that despite his recent lack of wins, all it takes is one victory to alter the direction things are going and recapture the moment he had at the outset of his UFC tenure.
changed so much — Merab wasn’t champion and all this, now he’s the champion.’ The dynamic has changed a lot, but I get it because one fight can change a lot.
“I go out and knock out Ricky, that’s it — nobody ever remembers that loss because that’s how the sport goes; you’re only as good as your last one,” continued Basharat, who earned wins over Trevin Jones, Tony Gravely, and Mateus Mendonca in his first three trips into the Octagon. “Rob Font is a guy that everybody thought was on his way out, Kyler Phillips was a guy everyone thought was on his way up, and then Rob just went out, beat Kyler, and all that’s done.
“But Kyler has a win over Song (Yadong), so you see what I’m getting at?” he added. “This game is such that one fight changes everything.”
And he believes his bout with Simon could be the one that changes things for him as he begins his 2025 campaign on Saturday.
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“Ricky is a very good fighter; he’s only lost to good fighters himself, and he has some really good wins over some very good fighters,” he said of his opponent this weekend, who maintained a residence in the Top 15 for a couple years before his current three-fight slide resulted in him losing his place in the exclusive community. “I could never look past Ricky.
“It’s a name that excites me; it’s not somebody new. Ultimately, the name doesn’t matter and you’ve got to go out there and do your thing, but the human element does come into play a little bit; there is extra motivation fighting Ricky because he’s had a decent career in the UFC, he’s fought some good names, and I know where I match up.
“I see… I see…,” he continued hesitantly, searching for the words when asked how he envisions his return to action playing out this weekend. “Honestly, I see domination everywhere; I don’t feel like he’s even close to me.
“He’s gonna try to make it a dogfight, but I’ve prepared for everything, every scenario.”
That confidence comes, in large part, from shifting his training from Las Vegas to South Florida, where he’s connected with Mike Brown and the incredible group at American Top Team.
“Sometimes you need to change some things just to have a new type of environment, and sometimes that alone is enough,” he began, explaining the decision to trade the desert for the beach. “ATT has been great; I can’t ask for more. Mike Brown is one of the best minds in the game, and I love working with Artem Levin as well.
“I still have a great relationship with my coaches in Vegas,” he was quick to add. “It wasn’t a thing where they weren’t good enough or anything like that; it’s just how life plays out sometimes.
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“You’ve got to do what is good for you.”
And teaming up with Brown and company has been beyond good for Basharat.
“I’ve figured who I am as a fighter more,” he said. “It has given me my fighting style, and I know exactly what kind of fighter I am. Before, I knew who I was, but there was that missing element where I’d go into a fight thinking ‘I’ll just do this,’ but now it’s more refined.
“Mike Brown has broken down Ricky so well for me, and we’ve been practicing every scenario, so I know exactly what to do.”
UFC Fight Night: Cejudo vs Song took place live from Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, Washington on February 22, 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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