In spite of his loss to Paul Daley, Sabah Homasi gets the chance to rebound in a big way when he meets former Bellator welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 264
Sabah Homasi gets the opportunity to make a major statement and get back in the win column all at once at Bellator 264, where he’ll meet former Bellator welterweight champion Andrey Koreshkov in the co-main event.
It’s a second straight big-name fight for Homasi, who last fought at Bellator 257 in April in a highly entertaining affair with Paul Daley. Homasi was in control and nearly got the job done early but eventually fell to Daley in the third round.
While the bout earned significant praise across the MMA community, Homasi, in an exclusive interview, says fighting is always a learning experience — though he feels his missteps gave him what should have been another W.
“Wins or losses, you know, it’s always a learning lesson,” Homasi told FanSided MMA. “Doesn’t matter if you lose, or if you’re win, you make mistakes in a fight. And you just got to go back and fix them. I made a mistake, I blew my load, and had nothing left in the tank really. My punches and kicks that were coming out, they were just slow and I wasn’t setting up my kicks — and that’s what made him catch my kick and come back with a left hook there. He’s a veteran.
“I was well-prepared for the fight. I think just hurting him twice in the first round, just pushing the gas and [I] just f***ed me over. That won’t happen again.”
While the bout was Homasi’s first defeat in Bellator, it was still an exciting fight and continued newfound success the American Top Team product has had since joining the promotion.
Homasi had joined the UFC through season 21 of The Ultimate Fighter but was finished by Tim Means and Abdul Razak Alhassan before being released.
After a November 2018 win over Muhammad Abdullah, Homasi joined Bellator and won his first three bouts in the promotion, knocking out Micah Terrill, scoring a decision over Curtis Millender and knocking out Bobby Voelker.
Sabah Homasi promises to avenge loss to Paul Daley after major opportunity against former champ Andrey Koreshkov at Bellator 264
Homasi credits his turnaround in momentum not because of specific training partners or a change in setting or improved skillset, but rather because of his maturation process as a fighter.
“I got great training partners, I got great coaching and, day in and day out, we’re drilling, we’re learning new techniques and we’re sharpening tools,” Homasi said. “I think it was I had the athletic ability — [I can] pick up things very quickly — I think it was more of a mental state for me. Maturing mentally and learning how to put things together. I never used my wrestling in any one of my fights until just recently…I’ve always had it, just never used it. And I’m learning how to put things together and take my time and stuff like that.”
While it took Homasi a while to remove the sting of the loss to Daley, he’ll get arguably an even bigger chance to make his case for good positioning in the 170-pound picture when he meets Koreshkov.
Koreshkov, who has gone 3-3 in Bellator in the time beginning with losing the welterweight title to Douglas Lima in 2016, hasn’t been seen in the promotion since a tight, split decision loss to Lorenz Larkin at Bellator 229 in October 2019.
Koreshkov competed at an AMC Fight Night event in Sochi, Russia, this past February, scoring a first-round submission win over Adriano Rodrigues.
Considering the momentum he has for himself even with the loss to Daley, and Koreshkov’s status as a former Bellator world champion, Homasi believes that for a second straight time he’s entering the biggest fight of his career.
“Absolutely, two back-to-back fights,” Homasi said. “Daley was my biggest fight. And then, you know, it took me a while to get past that. [I’m] still upset at myself; I’m literally better than him. I’m better than him everywhere. And I lost that fight and it was a tough pill for me to swallow. But I’m pretty sure we’re going to be doing it again; so I’ll for sure get that one back. But Andre Koreshkov now, former champion, this is the biggest fight of mine.”
Even while just ranked at No. 10, as of Aug. 10, and Koreshkov unranked due to Bellator inactivity, Homasi projects that this is a fight that can boost him into the top five of the Bellator welterweight rankings.
And Homsasi believes the way to get past Koreshkov will be waiting for his moment to get by the former champion’s Pankration and wrestling abilities.
“Patience is going to be my key to victory,” he said.