Short notice no problem for MMA standout Dy

ROLANDO DY has been given little time to prepare against Chinese grappler Wuliji “Beast Master” Buren in the preliminary non-title featherweight bout of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Fight Night at the Mercedes Benz Arena in Shanghai, China.

But the son of former world boxing champion Rolando Navarrete is not complaining as he welcomes the biggest challenge of his career yet.

The 26-year old Dy was told by the UFC that he would fight Buren two weeks ago. Dy needs a comeback win after suffering two straight losses.

“Two weeks ago, I was informed by the UFC that they would cut me on the roster. But they had a change of heart and later on informed me that I’m going to fight in China,” said Dy.

“I accept the fight despite the late notice because I want to prove myself that I can win again in the UFC.”

Most fighters have at least two months of preparation before the fight and some even set a six-month training camp.

But Dy saw the opportunity to bounce back from a unanimous decision loss to Japanese Teruto Ishihara last September 22 in Japan. Prior to that, he also lost to American Alex Caseres via second round technical knockout last June 17 in Singapore.

“That’s life. I mean, I can’t blame anybody for my failures and I can’t refuse the offer despite a two-week notice. As a professional, all I can do is to condition myself and do my best in training in those two weeks,” he added.

Dy, with an 8-6-1 win-loss- draw record, said this is a must-win fight for him to prove that he is worthy to belong to the world’s largest and most popular mix martial arts organization.

“I called it a suicide mission because they already cut me before so losing is not an option. I’m thinking positively that I can get the W on Saturday for my fellow Filipinos,” said Dy.

He also said his experience and big fighting heart are his advantages over Buren (10-4), who is known for his wrestling skills.

The Dy-Buren bout is one of the preliminary bouts of the Michael BispingKelvin Gastelum five-round middleweight main event non-title fight.