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BALL A JOKE
My last UFC opponent QUIT after claiming I kicked him in the balls and injured him – he wanted out, says Javid Basharat
Basharat has demanded to see scans of his last opponent's groin injury
JAVID BASHARAT still considers himself to have a perfect record - despite his last fight being ruled a No Contest.
The undefeated bantamweight's run of 14 straight victories came to an end last October at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi in his clash with Victor Henry.
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Afghan-born Brit Basharat experienced the first setback, of sorts, of his career thanks to what was judged to have been a low blow in the first round of their Abu Dhabi.
Henry was left in absolute agony after taking an inside low kick near his groin guard and writhed on the octagon canvas, so much so that he was unable to continue.
Basharat was adamant the blow was legal and that he'd added Henry's name to his list of victims, a stance he still holds nearly six months later.
He told SunSport: "It wasn't a no-contest, it was a win. Officially, it was a no-contest. But it was a win.
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"I won that fight and they took the win away from it. It is what it is.
"As far as I'm concerned, it was a win. I'm undefeated; I was winning that fight."
The way Basharat sees it, Henry took the first opportunity he had to find a way out of the fight.
"The guy wanted out," the 28-year-old insisted. "He took the easy way out. There was no clear cut of anything.
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Henry was transported to the hospital to undergo scans on his testicles, which his head coach Josh Barnett claimed swelled to the size of SATSUMAS.
Basharat is willing to change his opinion, provided Henry shows some evidence to back those claims.
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He said: "There was no proof of him defining his case.
"Just he said she said that he was vomiting. I've seen people win fights and they vomit after the fight because of the adrenaline and all of that.
"I've seen people go on car rides and rollercoasters and they vomit. People have vomited for much less than a fight, let's put it that way.
"So if that's your proof of your injury, then it's not good enough. I need to see scans. And since that one round was dominant by me, I won the fight."
Basharat will look to get back in the win column early on Sunday morning at UFC Fight Night 238 against veteran 135-pounder Aiemann Zahabi.
He said of the showdown with the Canadian: "This fight is going to be a chess match because he likes to think and I like to think.
"It's going to be a good fight for the fighters to watch and I hope the fans can appreciate it too.
"But don't think for one second that it won't turn into a brawl.
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"Because I'm very frustrating to hit and I know once they can't hit me that they throw everything but the kitchen sink at me.
"Even my sparring partners and my brother tell me, 'You're one of these guys that you feel like you can almost get you.'
"And then they try to go out of their way to go and get you further. And that's going to be to their detriment."
A win over Zahabi will likely see Basharat's name enter the 135lbs rankings, although he's no longer seeing his name in the list.
"People see me for what I am," he said. "I'm not too bothered about rankings because, at the end of the day, I don't know who is doing the rankings.
"I have no clue. I know it's not the matchmakers who decide on the rankings. And that kind of delegitimizes the rankings for me.
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"That's just where I'm at with it. But I only have one goal. My eye is on the title and remaining undefeated.
"And everything will come, Inshallah [God willing], in due time."
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