Dustin Hazelett believes patience and earning his place in the UFC will get him to the top rather than trying to rush things.

Hazelett impressed at UFC 91 on Saturday night and pocketed his second ‘Submission of the Night’ bonus in succession as he beat Tamdan McCrory with a first-round submission victory.

But the 22-year-old, who has earned $105,000 from three “fight night” bonuses in his six-fight UFC career to date, insists he is not yet ready to be considered one of the Welterweight division’s top fights.

“You just have to take your time,” Hazelett told MMAjunkie.com. “A lot of guys try to rush it too quickly, try to climb to climb to the top quickly. I’m taking my time and working on getting better at everything.

“I’m not trying to get to the top the fastest. I’m trying to earn my right to be there.”

Hazelett (12-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) lost to Tony DeSouza in his UFC debut in a fight he took on short notice, but has suffered one further defeat in the UFC when he lost via TKO to Josh Koscheck at UFC 82.

And looking back on the loss, Hazelett revealed: “I really thought that fight would be my break-out performance.

“I made some mistakes, though. I learned from them, and I moved on.”

Since then, Hazelett has looked to improve his stand-up game and told of how he prepared for his bout with McCrory.

“I had been working a lot with Dorian Price on the stand-up,” he revealed. “We worked hard, and he showed me a lot. Some of the things I did really well. Some of them I just didn’t do.

“Like, I saw [McCrory's] leg kicks coming, and I just stood there and did nothing, kind of like in the Burkman fight when I let him just stand there and punch me in the body. I don’t know why I did it. My stand-up is better than that. I just haven’t shown it yet.”

But although Hazelett was victorious in Las Vegas last week, he admits McCrory threw him off his game plan early.

“It was weird,” Hazelett said. “It wasn’t his reach. He just didn’t rush me. I watched his fights, and every single fight of his he just rushed forward, and he didn’t do it (this time). He kind of took me out of my game for a while because I was kind of waiting for him to rush me so I could move and counter.”

He continued: “I was waiting for him to come forward, and he probably watched my fights and was waiting for me to come forward. So we both just kind of stood there.”

The win will almost certainly guarantee Hazelett a place on the main card in the future.

And Hazelett concluded: “I just really enjoy fighting, and I love fighting. I think that shows when I’m competing.”

Phil Lowe
phil@ifight365.com