Egor Kostyuchenko knows UFC goal lofty, but he's ready to begin journey at CFFC 140: 'If you don't try, how will you know?'
Ukrainian welterweight ready for challenge of more experienced opponent in Friday's event, which streams on UFC FIGHT PASS.
Egor Kostyuchenko moved to the United States from his native Ukraine with a dream of one day making it to the UFC. He spends each day focused on achieving that goal, but there's been one major challenge along the way – he can't seem to find too many opponents willing to step up to face him.
"I've been asking about fights for a long time," Kostyuchenko said. "I'm in Philly two years, and maybe the first six months, I'm just training because it's like a different culture, different language, and after six months I'm trying to fight in every organization. If you open my Tapology, LFA canceled a fight. LFA tried a lot of times. CFFC, too. I said yes a couple of times about my opponent, but then the opponent says no or they have an injury or something."
Kostyuchenko (5-0) has only been able to fight once since relocating to Philadelphia to train with Marquez MMA, picking up a 2024 decision win over recent CFFC entrant Perry Stargel at a regional event in Michigan.
On Friday, though, Kostyuchenko's patience will be rewarded, as he'll finally make his CFFC debut, taking on Chris Brown (10-5) on the UFC FIGHT PASS-streamed main card of CFFC 140, which takes place at the historic 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
The 26-year-old Kostyuchenko said he's thrilled with the opportunity after watching several of his teammates use the CFFC platform to get the attention of UFC matchmakers.
"I'm happy in CFFC – real happy," Kostyuchenko said. "I've talked with the matchmaker, with Rob Haydak, and I'm really happy because guys like Joe Pyfer, Sean Brady, Pat Sabatini – people in Marquez MMA who are in the UFC – before, they have a fight in CFFC. I'm happy I signed a contract.
"It's just my first fight coming to a new promotion, but we'll see what happens. I want it to be short, fast, and I hope like maybe this year's Dana White Contenders Series or something. I don't know. Today, I'm just focused for March 14, we'll see what happens after the fight."
Kostyuchenko didn't draw an easy opponent in his CFFC debut. Fellow promotional newcomer Brown boasts quite a bit more experience in the professional ranks, and while he does have a few setbacks to his record, Kostyuchenko isn't discounting the quality of opposition that was able to hand him those marks.
"Chris is a top guy," Kostyuchenko said. "He's lost five times, but he lost to two current UFC fighters, two fights with top guys in PFL. This is a good guy. I took this fight because people never want to fight with me, you know what I mean? Look, I didn't have a fight in almost a year. It's not because I don't want to fight. I'm still training every day. This Chris Brown said yes. I know why, because he's a good guy, strong guy, a lot of experience, 15 fights.
"This fight put pressure me. Listen, he's a southpaw. I don't have a lot of experience in southpaw, and this is new for me. I'm not just training and I think Chris could never smash me or never win over me. No, this puts pressure on me. I've watched his fights. I'm working a lot with southpaws. I'm trying, like, new techniques. It's a good fight for me. I've never had some opponent like Chris Brown, like 10 wins. This is good pressure for me. Of course I want to choke him or something but we'll see what happens. He's a strong guy. Everything that he doesm it's like not bullsh-t level or easy level. He's a good fighter."
No risk, no reward, essentially. Kostyuchenko understands if he's going to get to the sport's highest levels, guys like Brown will stand in his way. But now is the time to show what he's been working on in the shadows, and he realizes the importance of making progress towards his ultimate goal right now.
Sure, the UFC can sometimes seem like an impossible destination, but he works alongside athletes every day who made that exact leap, and he's ready to follow in the path they blazed.
At CFFC 140, he gets to take a big step in that direction.
"Probably everyone wants to go to UFC," Kostyuchenko said. "I know everyone who is training a lot has a dream to go to UFC, you know? I mean, my dream is the same. It's like after the belt or before the belt or before this fight or after the second fight, it doesn't matter. I have a contract with CFFC, and I want to fight in CFFC, but of course I'm dreaming of UFC. I'm doing this only because I want to go to UFC.
"It's a hard life. Only people who train in this field understand what I feel and understand what other people feel who are trying a lot – and not everyone goes to UFC, you know what I mean? You never know, but if you don't try, how will you know?"
