Islam Dulatov quickly became a sensation after his stunning performance at UFC 318. The German-Chechen caught eyes with a thunderous first-round left hook, followed by ground-and-pound that finished Adam Fugitt inside the Smoothie King Center. ‘The Ripper’ also became the 290th DWCS alum to earn a win in the promotion. Along with his debut performance, the future looks bright for the surging prospect.

Dulatov didn’t break much of a sweat dealing with Fugitt inside the cage. And he had a GQ magazine photo shoot scheduled two days later. As he told Daniel Cormier in the Octagon interview, “For sure! I look good, guys, what do you think? So, I think I can do the job.” Before becoming a pro MMA fighter, Dulatov was a fashion model for global brands like Gucci, Hugo Boss, and Versace. Naturally, that’s built some intrigue around how he’s managed to balance both careers.

As part of the post-fight scrum, the German-Chechen was interviewed by former UFC strawweight Diana Belbita. Dulatov opened up about juggling two careers and what lies ahead after his victory. He said, “I had three three-month camps for the fight, and now I have a few weeks off. Then I go to the next model shoot.” That’s some serious dedication to balancing two professional paths. However, ‘The Ripper’ seems fully committed to chasing his dreams, and he even had a special request for the UFC head honcho.

Before entering the UFC, Dulatov competed across several European MMA promotions, most notably appearing in Brave FC events held in Germany. He believes there’s a wealth of talent on the European scene, fighters just like him waiting for their shot. That’s why he made a special request to Dana White to sign more German fighters to the UFC.

Continuing his interview with Diana Belbita, ‘The Ripper’ added, “Actually not that big, you know. We have a lot of good fighters in Europe, too! I think the UFC should also sign some German fighters.” The UFC previously had Dennis Siver, one of the more well-known Russian-German fighters who once shared the cage with Conor McGregor in 2015. Currently, Abus Magomedov is another notable name fighting out of Germany. So there’s definitely talent there that the promotion could take a closer look at.

And now, with Islam Dulatov in the mix, many German fighters will likely be knocking on the UFC’s door, hoping to make their country’s name shine on the sport’s biggest stage. However, since the welterweight prospect has already made quite a splash with his debut, he surprisingly didn’t call out any names. So, let’s dive in and see why! 

Islam Dulatov explains why he didn’t call anyone out after his UFC 318 win  

Dulatov may have just earned his UFC debut win, but his journey started when he broke down the door with a knockout of Vanilto Antunes on Dana White’s Contender Series last year. Thanks to the growing hype around him, the new welterweight sensation found himself in a prime position to call out a bigger, more high-profile opponent next. But he chose not to because of self-awareness.

The 26-year-old prospect believes he’s still too new in the promotion to start calling out big names. Instead, he’s taking a measured approach, planning to build momentum before making any bold moves. In his interview with Belbita, Dulatov explained, “I don’t have any names or something. I’ve just had my first fight in the UFC. I need to. I will slowly start taking names. Because this is just my first fight. So, two more fights, then we can start to talk!”

That’s definitely a mature way to move forward. Riding the wave of hype and calling out a top-20 name might be a bit too soon for him. Dulatov’s already eyeing the 170 lbs belt, but given how young he is, there’s still plenty of time and plenty of opponents ahead, who could give him a real test. 

With that being said, what did you think of Islam Dulatov’s performance against Adam Fugitt at UFC 318? Was it as impressive as the hype suggests? And how far do you think he can go in his UFC journey? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!