Opposed to the Korean Da Un Jung this Saturday at UFC Paris 2024, Oumar Sy will try to preserve his invincibility for his second career fight in the UFC. Ultra-complete, the Frenchman could quickly move up in his category.
Oumar, this is your 2nd fight in the UFC, you will face the Korean Da Un Jung. How are you approaching this 2nd challenge in the largest MMA organization?
I approach it normally, as usual. Ready to fight and ready to go home only with victory.
For your first fight, there were a lot of cancellations, you had changed opponents three times. Are you more confident in your approach this time?
Yes, we were able to put a game plan in place. Afterwards, whether there were two or three opponents, as I often repeat, it’s the same for me. But there, the fact of having an opponent, we were able to prepare, concentrate, and then it’s cool.
We have told you very often since your arrival at the UFC: you are in a category where there is room to climb very quickly. Do you see this fight as a step that can take you to the gates of the top 15, or even inside if you have a big performance?
No, I don’t think so. I think the UFC also has a good plan for me, which is to slowly move me up. I’m 40th in the world, he’s 30th, so we’re not going to skip ahead. I’m in no hurry. I’m here, I’m taking the opportunities that come to me and then we’ll move up slowly.
You have qualities that are not often found. We know that you are very good on the floor, and you showed it right away. Was it a desire on your part in the first fight to say “there is a grappler in this category who can arrive, who can submit you very quickly”?
No, not even. Me, I trust the coach. There you go, I know how to do everything. Now, if I make my floor speak, it’s because there is a game plan that has been put in place and I followed the game plan. Maybe if I hadn’t followed the game plan, I could have lost. I have no ego, I have no problem following game plans. So if I have to submit guys 20 times, I will submit them 20 times, without necessarily making boxing talk. Now, this is an opponent who is still quite strong. It’s the first time I’m facing an opponent who is more physical than me, and we all know that Asians at a high level are good. So this is going to be an MMA fight.
Your opponent has three defeats in a row. How do you approach this match up? Do you think he’s a good guy to take on at this point in his career?
But in fact he has three defeats against names. Finally, when I say names, it is because, in fact, today, it is me who is in his place. So they gave him the opportunity to go up. It didn’t work and that’s it. There, I think he is on the last fight of his contract. So I think he’s super motivated. I’m on my 2nd. In fact, we both have our cards to play in this fight.
It’s obviously special because it’s Paris. How do you approach fighting in the biggest league in the world at home, in front of your own people? Does that give you extra pressure, extra happiness?
Honestly, I don’t really care. Me, I’m here for the victory. You have to learn to disconnect from all that. Me, I just come for the victory, whether it’s in Paris or in New York, it’s the same for me.
You didn’t have the same journey as some other French fighters. You cut your teeth abroad, but in the big leagues. Even if the French public has already seen you, it’s a bit of an official presentation. Is there also, in a corner of your head, the desire to say “look, I am Oumar Sy. Very soon, you will see me in a high place”…
I believe in destiny, so what happens will happen. I can’t say it enough: I come to win. I’ve never had a fight where it was a figment, where you could feel that I came just to be there. I have always fought, most of the time, in hostile terrain, it has always gone well, I don’t see why, at home, it would happen any differently.
You’re wearing an “American Top Team” t-shirt. Are you at all related to them now?
Related, no, I’m there. So, my team and I decided that I would try it, and frankly, it went really well. I think it was the best camp of my life. So there you have it, that’s where I will train my weapons now.
It’s a huge American team that has taken out many, many people in the UFC and champions. How did you experience training there? Do you see a big difference with what we offer in France? In particular, it is said that in terms of quantity and quality of sparring, there is a world of difference…
In fact, it has nothing to do with it. Compared to the training pace, even compared to the energy on the tatami, it has nothing to do with here. We can meet up in the fitness parks or in the On Air… While there, you arrive on the tatami, there is crazy energy.
You managed to rise to the elite by training as you trained. When you arrived at ATT, did you feel a little watched?
Honestly, the French don’t deserve anything. We still have our base. And with the qualities and the way I was able to train here, when I arrived there, I wasn’t disgusting, I was OK. Now, you have to know that they have the structures, they have the infrastructure, they have everything, in fact. They’re ahead of us, that’s all. We are a little late, but we are not unworthy. In my category, there were maybe ten of us, including opponents that I could have faced at KSW, guys who will perhaps sign with the UFC and whom I could face later. So yeah, I had to surpass myself anyway to show that we are there.
Is there a particular guy or sparring match that left an impression on you there? Someone you got cozy with?
Not heated, but I had a sparring with Ivan Erslan, the Croatian who is also on the UFC card, he fights after me. It was with him that I mainly did my sparring. So there you go, support him too.
A week after UFC Paris, there is the title defense in your category with Alex Pereira and Khalil Rountree. It’s probably going to be a kickboxing fight. We know that many wonder what Pereira would give against a top grappler. Do you think about the fact that your main quality is one of the current champion’s faults?
I think he’s okay on the ground. He may not be a standout grappler, but I think he’s decent. It has to have the right exits and everything. Honestly, I don’t think about it at all. Me, I’m here to fight my battles, to climb quietly. I’m going to be 29 in two months. I’m not thinking about that yet.
This is a category where the champion fights often, so the belt can change hands more quickly. Are you already preparing to face Pereira or are you still in a step by step approach?
Oh no, it’s really step by step. Frankly, the top 15, I don’t even think about it. There, I know that the UFC has a plan for me. You have to be aware of your qualities. I’m young in the UFC, I haven’t lost yet. So I think the UFC wants to bring me up slowly, without burning me right away.
If you have a big performance in Paris, do you already have names in mind for the future?
The problem is that it might seem weird, but I don’t even know the guys in the top 15, I don’t even look. For example, Da Un Jung, I thought I saw him like that, but I never really got interested in him until he was introduced to me as an opponent. Honestly, even the 15th, I don’t know its name.
If you don’t know your opponents much, how do you approach them? Do you rely solely on the videos or do you leave all that to your coaches?
I had seen him because he was fighting in 2019 in the UFC, and I was starting. At that time, since I really wanted to progress, I watched the 93 kilo fights. But today, I no longer watch the fights. My manager, my coaches are watching. And sometimes I’m on a treadmill, in the tough, and I motivate myself by watching his fights. I look at his faults and his qualities like that.
Last question before Saturday’s fight at the Accor Arena for UFC Paris. We’re not going to ask you your game plan, but how do you imagine this fight against Da Un Jung?
I think it’s going to be a good fight, period.
A fight that will turn to your advantage?
Yeah, basically, yeah.
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