BOSTON – Training twice for Sabah Homasi irritated UFC welterweight Abdul Razak Alhassan, but what really put him out was changing his holiday plans.

Alhassan, who hails from Ghana and now lives in Texas, expected to be a middleweight at the end of 2017. His mother had recently moved to the U.S. and was going to cook a feast.

Instead of gorging, Alhassan had to watch his calories and prepare for a rematch with Homasi at UFC 220, which takes place Saturday at TD Garden in Boston.

“So I’m going to beat him up for that, too,” Alhassan (8-1 MMA, 2-1 UFC), who faces Homasi (11-7 MMA, 0-2 UFC) on the FS1-televised prelims, told MMAjunkie.

The UFC booked a rematch between the welterweights after an early stoppage marred their first meeting at UFC 218. Officially, Alhassan won the fight via first-round TKO. But he didn’t get much of a victory party.

Backstage, he barely got his gloves off before UFC officials approached him with a rematch.

Alhassan maintains the punch he landed on Homasi that prompted referee Herb Dean to step in was legit. He’s seen fights stopped for much less. But he acknowledges Homasi wasn’t unconscious, so they have to run it back.

“This time, I want to put him down for good to prove it wasn’t just the referee stopping it,” Alhassan said. “I don’t want to be bothered with this anymore.

“In life, you want to keep moving forward. This is something where I’m not moving forward. I’m in the same place that I was. This is the time for me to put in the hard work and move the top.”

Watch Alhassan’s full interview above as he discusses the rematch with Homasi.

For more on UFC 220, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.