Injuries have cost Siyar Bahadurzada a sizeable chunk of his UFC career. But now, powered by the momentum of thee consecutive stoppage wins, he said things are about to look up.

“This is the year that things are going to happen for me,” Bahadurzada told MMAjunkie Radio. “I’m very determined. I’m very excited. I’m injury-free.”

Bahadurzada (24-6-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) knocked out Luan Chagas in the second round of their UFC Fight Night 128 appointment earlier this month, earning a “Performance of the Night” bonus. Although it followed two other solid wins – a knockout win over Rob Wilkinson at UFC Fight Night 115 and a submission victory over Brandon Thatch at UFC 196 – each fight took place in a different calendar year.

The pace wasn’t ideal, but it still beat the stretch that came before: After kicking off his UFC run with back-to-back losses, Bahadurzada had to sit out the entirety of 2014 and 2015 due to injuries. The layoff wasn’t fun. In fact, the welterweight went through “hell.”

But if there are any positives to take from the struggle, it’s that it’s made Bahadurzada determined to not let it be in vain.

“I grew up in Afghanistan in the war, and I’ve been through a lot of sh-t,” Bahadurzada said. “I walked over dead bodies as a little kid, running for my life, from civil war. I’ve been through a lot of sh-t. But this? Two years of me being so down, six feet under the ground – it cooked me on a different level, man. It actually ignited the champion inside of me that I want to become.

“I didn’t come back to just show up, win one or two, and then lose one or two – and then at the end of my career call it quits and whatever whenever it feels like I can’t do it anymore. There is no such thing like that. I came back to conquer. I came back to be a champion. And I’m going to show it. I will break them all. One by one.”

It’s certainly an ambitious quest but one in which Bahadurzada doesn’t feel alone. Born in Kabul, Afghanistan, the welterweight gets to see special support in the form of flags from his home country when he makes the walkout to the octagon wherever he is.

Those, he said, belong to engineers, doctors and politicians hailing from everywhere from Dubai to Canada, to support him. Bahadurzada moved to Europe with his family still as a teenager, but representing his home country is something he still takes upon himself.

Growing up, he said, he didn’t have a hero. He didn’t have someone who spoke his language and who’d been through the same things he did to look up to. So he wants to be that for others.

“Now that I’m in this position, I’m trying to ignite the champion inside those little kids,” Bahadurzada said. “I want to give them hope. Because they don’t have hope. I didn’t have hope when I was in Afghanistan. Because you didn’t know what day would be your last day and what rocket or bullet has your name written on it. When you walk out of the house, you don’t know if you’ll return because of the suicide attacks in Afghanistan. I want to give these people hope.

“I want them to focus on training and not on drugs or anything else. Because we have poverty in Afghanistan, but what we also have is the courage and bravery to be somebody big – to make it to the top.”

After sitting on the sidelines for too long, Bahadurzada now wants to pick up the pace. He’s fit and healthy, and he’ll return to camp at Jackson-Wink MMA this week to make sure he stays that way. After that, he’ll be waiting for the a call from the UFC – hopefully, with the top-10 opponent he believes his wins have warranted.

There are “a lot” of guys in that bunch he’d like to fight. But if he had to pick one, the first choice would be a certain ex-champion whom he was actually paired up with once, at UFC on FOX 8, before sickness caused Bahadurzada to withdraw.

“Robbie Lawler would be a great fight,” Bahadurzada said. “He’s a tough guy. He comes to fight. I come to fight. We have a very similar style of fighting. I think that will make up for a fight of the decade. If Robbie Lawler would like to fight, I would love (it).”

To hear from Bahadurzada, check out the video above.

And for more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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