Sean Sharaf drew inspiration from some of the UFC’s biggest stars when he used psychological tactics against Gable Steveson before their UFC 331 heavyweight bout.
Sharaf entered fight week as the biggest underdog on the card but stunned the former Olympic gold medalist with a 12-second knockout.
The buildup also attracted attention after Sharaf goaded Steveson during the pre-fight press conference. Speaking on the Weighing In podcast, Sharaf said he had studied fighters such as Jon Jones, Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor and understood the potential impact of getting inside an opponent’s head.
“I've studied Jon Jones, and you saw Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor…that is a real thing,” Sharaf said. “You say something before the fight, and if it irks somebody the wrong way they're not going to be thinking as level-headed as they would if you're not, so that's why that happened.”
Sharaf said, however, that he had not planned the confrontation in advance. He was added to the main card and press conference lineup only after Brian Ortega withdrew from his scheduled fight against Renato Moicano because of an injury.
“I didn't plan (it) because I didn't know I was going to be on the press conference until Brian Ortega got hurt,” Sharaf said. “And then when I got to fight week they're like, ‘Hey, you got bumped up the main card and you're going to press conference’ and I was like, ‘Okay, I guess I'm gonna do my first press conference!’ and yeah, I just it played out.”
