MANILA, Philippines — “End the year strong.”
That is what Filipino-American mixed martial arts fighter Ricky Turcios’ mantra for his upcoming co-main event fight against Bernardo Sopaj at UFC Fight Night Magny vs Prates on Sunday, November 10.
The 31-year old Turcios (13-4-0) is coming off a bitter loss to Raul Rosas Jr., the former succumbing to a rear-naked choke.
“All I can say is that Rosas was better than me that night. Now, I have put that in my rear-view mirror, I am going to end 2024 with a win against Sopaj,” Turcios said with his usual zest and boundless optimism.
Sopaj, who hails from Albania but fights out of Sweden, lost his UFC debut last March 2024 when he was knocked out with a flying knee by Vinicius Oliveira with mere seconds left in the third and final round.
He is coming into his second UFC with an 11-3-0 slate, and in need of a victory.
Sopaj is a grappler who likes to take down his opponent to the canvas where gets most of his wins. And when he has the tables turned, the Albanian isn’t an easy fighter to take down.
“I have studied film about Sopaj and I think I will get a good result this Sunday,” noted Turcios.
Turcios’ advantage is his striking but he is a volume puncher with 37% accuracy. Surprisingly, Sopaj is more efficient in his striking and does a lot of damage in the first round where most of his victories.
That is the opposite of Turcios’ win total. The Texan gets most of his results in the deep rounds of the fight. His big concern is getting too excited and getting a finish that he sometimes throws caution to the wind resulting in a reversal.
“I treat every setback as a learning lesson,” he said. “And you have to get better from everything. I am ready for Bernardo and I will come away with a win this Sunday.”
Turcios’ mother, who is Filipina, was in the Philippines for a few months on vacation, but Ricky was unable to join because he was in training camp for this bout.
UFC Fight Night: Magny vs Prates is Turcios’ first ever co-main event billing.