Da’Mon Blackshear has revealed he has signed a new contract ahead of UFC Vegas 78 and believes his style played a factor in the UFC’s decision.
The 28-year-old currently has a 1-1-1 record inside the promotion, with his first win coming in his latest outing against Luan Lacerda.
In an interview with Combat Sports UK, Blackshear revealed that he recently signed a new contract with the UFC. He was asked whether it was almost time to renegotiate following his upcoming bout.
He replied: “Actually, I just signed a new contract.”
‘Da Monster’ agreed that his style factored into the UFC’s decision to offer him a new deal.
He continued: “Yeah, absolutely, I feel like I can easily [wrestle] with most of these guys.
“Imma have a wrestling background, I can f*cking take these guys down and I can play that holding game. But, nobody wants to watch that sh*t, you know what I’m saying, and I don’t wanna fight that way. So yeah, I think that’s part of it, for sure.”
Contract negotiations usually take place when a fighter’s existing deal runs out. However, this wasn’t the case for the former Cage Fury FC champion.
He said: “It just came out of the blue. They offered the fight and then a week later they were like ‘Let’s renegotiate the contract’.
“I’m ecstatic. [It gives me] a little bit more of an incentive but I wanna win no matter what.
“If it [my contract] was zero dollars and we had a scrap, I wanna f*cking win dawg – that is it and that is all. I care about the money but I don’t care about the money, I just wanna win.”
Da’Mon Blackshear Set to Face Jose Johnson at UFC Vegas 78 Following Brady Hiestand’s Staph Infection
Blackshear was originally scheduled to face Brady Hiestand at UFC Vegas 78, headlined by Vicente Luque and Rafael Dos Anjos. However, the TUF 29 finalist withdrew due to a staph infection.
The Florida-based fighter will now face Jose Johnson, who steps in on short notice. Johnson punched his ticket to the UFC in 2022 when he defeated Englishman Jack Cartwright on Dana White’s Contender Series.
‘Lobo Solitario’ holds a professional record of 15-7 and will look to cause an upset when he faces Blackshear on Saturday night.
Full Exclusive Interview
You can watch the full interview with Blackshear below:
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Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
