“Because normally I’m fighting for five rounds, so I have two extra rounds to take my distance, to measure my opponent. This time I have just three. If you lose one round, you’re losing an important part of the fight, so I have to start quicker.”
In the grand scheme of things, it’s a relatively small adjustment to make for a fighter who has had to battle more than his fair share of adversity during his rollercoaster career.
And while he’s fought his way through and reached the pinnacle of the sport, he admitted that he needed the support of those closest to him after he found himself out of the UFC following back-to-back losses to Sergio Pettis and Alexandre Pantoja in 2017 and 2018, respectively. That support helped him not just bounce back into the UFC, but make it all the way to the flyweight title.
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“You always have to believe in yourself, but being honest with you, that (time) when I lost against Pantoja and Pettis and the UFC released me … you have your doubts a little bit!” he admitted.
“But with the help of my friends, my family, my close circle, I got the motivation. ‘Now I have to be focused – this is a marathon, not a sprint. I have to keep going, and the belt is gonna come.’ And, thanks to God, the universe, destiny, whatever you want to call it, I did it.”
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