LAS VEGAS – Abdul Razak Alhassan needed a change, and Colorado seemed like the perfect fit after he heard what UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman had to say.

Ahead of his UFC Fight Night 201 bout Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Alhassan (11-4 MMA, 5-4 UFC) revealed at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday he is no longer training in Texas. Now, he calls Team Elevation in Denver his training association.

“I felt like I needed a fresh change, a different pace that will push me to make me work hard like I used to do,” Alhassan told MMA Junkie. “People there can bring that killer side of me. Also, Kamaru was the one that suggested it for me, too. I have loved it since. … There are a few places. They are part of the Elevation team. So I have different places that I go to, to train.”

Alhassan, 36, most recently competed in August when he snapped a three-fight skid with a massive head kick knockout of Alessio Di Chirico. The win was his first since a lengthy legal battle shaved years off his fighting career. Between the stress of the lawsuit, in which he was found not guilty, and the subsequent losing skid, Alhassan needed to dig deep and find himself. He thanked his family and friends for guiding him through dark times toward victory.

“During the losing streak, I was doubting myself every day, especially after the first loss,” Alhassan said. “That’s when I started doubting myself. Even during the week of the fight, I kept doubting myself, ‘Should I do this anymore? Should I do this anymore?’ Because of all the mental situations and everything that I went through. Then, I think I found myself. Just the way my family talked to me, ‘Hey, let the past be the past. Focus on the future, right now. Be yourself. Bring yourself to the way you used to be and even better than that.’ So yeah, that kind of helped me big time.”

At UFC Fight Night 201, Alhassan is set to battle fellow knockout artist Joaquin Buckley (13-4 MMA, 3-2 UFC). The two were originally expected to face off in January, but Alhassan suffered an injury that delayed the bout one month. The anticipation continues to build and Alhassan all but promised fans can expect fireworks.

“He’s the same (as me),” Alhassan said. “We’ll literally try to take each other’s head off. In this game, we never look down on anybody. He’s good. He’s good, but I’m better.”

Knowing he’s entering a battle against an equally explosive opponent capable of creating a spectacular knockout, Alhassan won’t try to force something to happen, otherwise, he may miss an opportunity by not being in the flow of the fight.

“It’s what you see,” Alhassan explained. “Sometimes you don’t have to, (but) when you look for it, you don’t get it. When you look for stuff like that, usually you don’t get it. When you go in there sometimes in the moment to see stuff that you didn’t even work on and it’s right there, and you take the opportunity and you just take it. I’m not going in there to do some fancy stuff, but I’m going to go in there with the mindset, ‘You’re in my way, I have to take you out.’”

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