Athletes
No Shortage Of Confidence For Jake Hadley
Ascending Flyweight Looks For His Third Straight Win When He Takes On Cody Durden On Saturday’s Preliminary Card
Towards the end of May, Jake Hadley was speaking with his father about his scheduled bout against ranked flyweight Tagir Ulanbekov and gave voice to a sneaky little feeling he had about the impending matchup.
“I said, ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if he pulls out because he’s a pull-out merchant,’ and then he ended up pulling out,” recalled the British prospect, who will instead share the Octagon with Cody Durden this weekend in Nashville. “He’s a top fighter, but I wasn’t shocked when he pulled out.”
What did come as a surprise for Hadley is that someone on the roster raised their hand to fill in for Ulanbekov.
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Jake Hadley Locks In The Triangle Choke For His First UFC Win | UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs Lemos
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Sitting on consecutive stoppage victories and positioned as one of the top prospects in the division, the confident Dana White’s Contender Series grad sees himself as a high-risk opponent for anyone already inked to a UFC deal. The former Cage Warriors champion is skilled on the ground and showed last time out against Malcolm Gordon in London that he’s dangerous with his hands, as well, going back to the body when he saw the Canadian veteran was hurt, getting him out of there in a tick over a minute.
When Ulanbekov withdrew, Hadley assumed he’d end up sharing the Octagon with a promotional newcomer, but instead, Durden stepped up, and the ascending prospect couldn’t be happier that he did.
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“It’s probably one of the better replacements that I could ask for because he does have a similar style to a degree, he’s on a three-fight winning streak, and he’s starting to get more of the recognition that he deserves.
“At one stage, Cody Durden was highly underrated, and now he’s rated now since his last victory, and he’s riding some momentum,” he said of his dance partner this weekend, who registered the biggest win of his career earlier this year when he out-worked Charles Johnson to extend his winning streak to three. “This is a perfect replacement, really.
“I’m even shocked that neither me nor Durden are ranked when Sumudaerji and Tagir are ranked,” Hadley added. “(They) fight once every 10 years. This is a ranking fight and a big fight, really, for the flyweight division.”
Whether it’s a bout to see which man enters the rankings and how big it is divisionally are subjective conversations that certainly can be had, but what is undeniable is that this is another grand chance for Hadley to show why Dana White made the right choice when he brought him into the fold following his win on the Contender Series a few summers back.
Prior to the contest, Hadley missed weight, which is usually an automatic disqualifier when it comes to getting a contract, and given that the lad from the West Midlands rubbed some the wrong way during the week, it seemed like his chances of graduating to the roster were slim.
But his performance against recent TUF contestant Mitch Raposo was excellent, as Hadley collected a second-round finish to extend his record to 8-0, and the UFC President rolled the dice on the unbeaten British fighter, only for Hadley to drop his promotional debut to Allan Nascimento seven months later.
“It was a learning experience,” Hadley said of the bout with Nascimento, who has since collected a first-round submission win to further establish himself as a dangerous threat just outside the Top 15. “I changed a lot of things in my training since then, got a lot better and made the adjustments that were needed after the fight for the mistakes that were made during the fight and the lead-up to it.
“I consider Nascimento one of the harder fights in the division, and to get that fight was a learning experience for me. It was God’s plan and I’ve gotten better from it.”
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Since then, Hadley has shown the diverse skills that made him a highly regarded prospect when he was signed, building on his second-round finish of Carlos Candelario last November by venturing to London and rapidly dispatching Gordon in front of a massive, partisan crowd at The O2 Arena in March.
While the quick victory was a breakout moment in many regards for Hadley, he also looked completely at home fighting in front of a raucous crowd, seemingly thriving on the attention and all eyes being on him.
“I hadn’t fought in an arena since 2019, so it was amazing to fight in front of the fans; I felt like a modern-day gladiator,” explained the flyweight hopeful. “It felt really good to fight in that environment and I was feeling like, ‘Yes, this is what I was born to do — fight in front of all these people and put on a show!’
“Even before I was on Cage Warriors, I fought in EFC in South Africa, fought a guy in his backyard and all his fans were booing me. I thrived in that moment — I performed better. I felt great when the fans were booing me and stuff because that’s just what I got into it for is to fight in front of the crowd, an ‘I’m the man!’ type of thing — coming out (thinking) ‘Everyone is here for me!’
“I also fought in Dublin, Ireland, in a hostile crowd, as well, which was amazing having all the people there,” he added. “I do feel I perform better with the crowd there.”
Saturday night, Bridgestone Arena will be packed to the gills with fans clamoring to watch live UFC action for the first time in more than four years, and just as he did in London, Hadley expects to thrive once again.
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“I can do it by any means necessary, any way,” he said when asked how he sees his matchup with Durden playing out. “I can knock him out, sub him out, beat him up and make him fold over and quit.
“I can beat him in every aspect of the game: knock him spark out, barbecue his ribs, choke him out. If I get him down, that’s him done for — he ain’t got a chance; he’ll be getting his head caved in and choked out. I feel I can beat him in every aspect of the game.
“Is he a great fighter?” he asked rhetorically. “Yes, he is, but I’m better, and it’s as simple as that.”
UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs Font took place live from Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee on August 5, 2023. See the Final Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC Fight Pass!
