Fortis MMA's Sayif Saud shares key to reaching 100 UFC coaching wins
Coaches are among the most unheralded people in MMA, but at UFC Fight Night 254 this past Saturday, Fortis MMA leader Sayif Saud got his flowers.
After being a frequent presence in the corner of notable athletes under the UFC banner, Saud reached the landmark of 100 team victories with the sport's biggest promotion, and it came courtesy of a Sam Hughes split decision triumph over Stephanie Luciano in a strawweight bout at UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
The moment Hughes' hand was raised, she took the microphone during her post-fight interview and showered Saud with praise, vocalizing the significance of the Dallas-based team hitting the milestone of triple-digit victories in the UFC.
'Everybody was so cool about it like, 'Tonight's the night,'' Saud told MMA Junkie. 'It surprised me, honestly, because there's so much fights, so much crap going on. Everybody who plays a role (at the UFC) that people don't see were like, 'Tonight's the night. You're going to do it.' Everybody handled it pretty awesome and gave me a lot of love. Just a really cool moment and something I'll something I never forget.'
'Winning fights in the UFC isn't easy. Winning double digit fights over multiple years, it's so hard. I think we've done it five times in five years or six years. It is so hard then to win 20 fights in a year, we've done that a couple of times. Just one win is hard, so obviously if you're getting 20 wins in a year in the UFC, it's really something to be proud of.'
Saud, a former fighter who found his place as a coach with the famed Jackson-Wink MMA in Albuquerque, N.M., got his first coaching win on the back of Sean Spencer beating Yuri Villefort at UFC Fight Night 28 in September 2013. His personal highlights as a cornerman on the road to 100 included Geoff Neal's 90-second knockout of Mike Perry in December 2019, and Brandon Moreno emerging from his four-fight series with Deiveson Figueiredo as undisputed flyweight champion.
Although 100 represents a monumental achievement for Saud and a key item crossed off his bucket list, he said it's not the time to rest on his laurels. He's still got relevant, highly ranked names in his stable of fighters who have aspirations of their own.
'I had two goals (as a coach): My first goal was to get to 100 wins, because I thought that's Don Shula-esque, you can't be denied,' Saud said. 'That's a lot of wins. The second was to win an undisputed title, which that wasn't easy at all and will be very hard to do again and that's what we're striving to do, to win titles.'
Although Fortis MMA is now among the most established and prestigious gyms in the sport, Saud said it's a priority to continue expanding and evolving. Longtime team member and UFC lightweight veteran Diego Ferreira recently committed to a role as full-time jiu-jitsu coach, which Saud said adds to the 'very unique' staff Fortis MMA has to offer.
In December, Saud told MMA Junkie that he was mulling a coaching retirement in the not-too-distant future. He said those comments were met with pushback from his athletes, especially those who are younger in their respective careers.
Saud said he's not yet ready to make his exit as Fortis MMA's head coach, especially as he reflects on such a big moment in his career, which he preached as a product of having fighters consistently prepared to compete at the highest level of MMA.
'I've got to thank everyone at the gym that has been part of this journey since Day 1,' Saud said. 'This dream that we had to build this team from scratch, to kind of see it now hit this milestone of 100 wins is just kind crazy. It's surreal in some ways because it's like, we did it. We solidified this dream, and I feel like what's what this 100 wins shows, is the consistency at the highest level when the sport has continued to get harder and harder. It is so hard to win now even compared to pre-COVID and Contender Series. It's so much more competitive. I'm just really proud of everybody.
'I'm gone so much. Life's trade-offs. For those 100 wins, that's 100 times that I wasn't here at home to watch my own kinds. It's an accomplishment that so many people were a part of and supported and I really appreciate everybody. It was a really cool weekend.'
To hear more from Saud on his milestone of 100 UFC wins, check out his complete appearance on 'The Bohnfire' podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn in the video above.
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