Nasrat Haqparast happy to settle the score with John Makdessi once and for all

Nasrat Haqparast has his sights set on his upcoming fight against Joaquim Silva on Saturday in New Jersey but it’s still hard for him to ignore a former teammate he was previously scheduled to meet.

Earlier this year, Haqparast was expected to face John Makdessi but a lingering injury forced the German fighter to drop out of the fight before it happened.

“I had inflammation in a tendon in my arm because if you remember, I broke my hand in October in my fight and with this arm I had some issues,” Haqparast told MMA Fighting. “The bone healed quickly but the tendon got inflamed so it took some time [to heal].

“One month after the fight was cancelled, I was back in the gym preparing for competition.”

While the two fighters previously called each other teammates at Tri-Star in Montreal, the friendly banter quickly turned nasty after Haqparast claimed Makdessi was dodging him when the UFC tried to rebook the fight for a later date.

Haqparast says he never really had an issue with Makdessi until that happened.

“I trained with him when he was supposed to fight Sage Northcutt. I never had issues with him. Just for this fight we were scheduled to fight and he took it bad, had some words, so after this fight we’ll see,” Haqparast added.

Haqparast isn’t losing any sleep over a potential fight with Makdessi but he’s more than happy to take that fight if the UFC wants to make it.

Makdessi was recently scheduled to return to action as well but he was forced out of his upcoming contest against Devonte Smith at UFC 241 for undisclosed reasons.

“The thing is our fight got cancelled because I got injured, I pulled out. After when I was healthy and I wanted to reschedule the fight. Both were ready to fight and he didn’t want that,” Haqparast said. “He was disrespectful. We are sportsmen, we can settle it in the cage and if the fight got cancelled why not reschedule it if both are ready to go?

“So let’s see. If it gets rescheduled that’s the decision of the UFC.”

As far as the fight goes this weekend, Haqparast was more than willing to face an opponent like Joaquim Silva, who is well known for having an exciting style inside the Octagon.

“This fight’s going to be crazy,” Haqparast said. “If you look at our last two fights, we both bring good performances. Joaquim Silva is a very good striker, he comes from a good team, they’re tough. This sport isn’t all about toughness. You’ve got to have a good game plan, you have to fight smart and it’s going to be crazy.

“Joaquim Silva likes to come forward. He’s not one of those guys hugging until a decision. It’s going to be fun I think.”