It didn’t matter how or when to Bogdan Guskov, he had been working his whole life to make it to the UFC. So, when the 31-year-old Uzbekistan native got the call to make his UFC debut against longtime contender Volkan Oezdemir, there was no hesitation.
His debut took place in front of a sold-out crowd in Paris, and while jumping right into the deep end of the light heavyweight division didn’t pay off, it was a valuable learning experience for Guskov. He felt the presence of the big arena, and the entire process of a fight week away from home was all so new.