With free agency behind him, Elizeu Zaleski happy to face Randy Brown at UFC 302

Elizeu Zaleski re-signed with the UFC to return Saturday against Randy Brown on the main card of UFC 302 after a long period of waiting, and wants to make up for lost time.

Zaleski beat Benoit Saint Denis and Abubakar Nurmagomedov in back-to-back fights before completing his UFC contract with a majority draw opposite rising welterweight sensation Rinat Fakhretdinov in November. It took five months for UFC to offer him a new deal, but now he’s matched up against Brown on the Newark pay-per-view.

“I knew the UFC valued me,” Zaleski told MMA Fighting.

“It took some time now, but they always saw me as a good asset, so it came at the right time. I have no time to waste as an athlete, of course, but Cristiano [Marcello] and the entire CM System team were confident they would come with a [sensible] offer for us and we would re-sign and stick with them for more time.”

Zaleski holds a UFC record of 10-3-1, including a 2018 knockout win over future middleweight champion Sean Strickland. He’s happy to be thrown against an action-fighter like Brown, who has only gone the distance seven times in 22 octagon appearances.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to be fighting someone like him in my restart,” Zaleski said. “I think I deserve a fight like this to show what I can do and show my value in the company.”

Back in November 2023, Zaleski took aim at Santiago Ponzinibbio when discussing the completion of his UFC deal, and the Brazilian talent said he’s still open to that fight even though a win over Brown could allow him to aim higher in the rankings. Zaleski wants to stay active going forward, so he hopes to end things quickly at UFC 302.

“Randy Brown is a complete MMA fighter,” Zaleski said. “He’s opportunistic, but I see many paths to victory. It could be a knockout, it could be a submission. A decision will be the last option. The way he fights and gives his all the entire time, and the way I always fight too, this fight has everything to end by submission or knockout.”