Youssef Zalal may have had his hand raised at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night, but he believes achieving the win was made more difficult by some potential cheating.
Zalal recorded the biggest win of his career to date in this weekend’s co-main event at the Apex, where he outpointed top-10 opposition in perennial featherweight contender Calvin Kattar.
But while he’s now won seven straight and can expect a high number next to his name come Tuesday’s rankings update, “The Moroccan Devil” wasn’t totally happy in the aftermath of his triumph.
During his post-fight press conference, Zalal appeared to accuse Kattar of cheating by greasing his body to ensure an advantage in grappling exchanges.
“This is the crazy part: We worked a lot of grappling, and I sh*t you not, I felt like there’s Vaseline all over his legs,” Zalal said. “I swear to God, he was the most slipperiest guy I’ve ever seen in my life, and I felt like I’m not trying to be that guy with this and that (excuse). But man, that was suspicious, bro.
“Nobody slides like that – that quick. I’ve fought a lot of good guys – Jack Shore and all those guys – and I felt when you’re dry and all that stuff, there’s no way. It is what it is. You can cheat the sport, you can do whatever you want.”
