Issue 181

August 2019

The former middleweight champ on moving up a division and that beef with Anthony Smith.

Now that you decided to jump up to light heavyweight the theme of your training, the theme of your general mentality is that you just feel good.

The important thing is that I’m not changing at the end of camp. The only way I am losing is if I am compromising myself. Getting down to that weight (185) was compromising myself. Going in there at my natural weight – eating and training and doing my thing – I don’t feel like I am behind anybody at any weight when I’m in the gym. Now that I am taking the time to put some muscle on, it’s making every little position easier and every shot I throw that much harder. They are going to feel me.

When was the conscious decision made to make the jump up in weight class?

I have been toying with the idea over my past few fights. This fight was just hell, the whole weight-cut process was one of the toughest I have ever had. It just gets harder and harder as you get older. Your body just doesn’t want to do it. I don’t know whether it was being in Australia or what was going on. I didn’t recover. It was a pretty clear decision after DC decided to move up. That clarified the whole decision and it was easy to make the decision at that time.

You are facing Jan Blachowicz at UFC 239 in July for your light heavyweight debut. What do you see from him in your film study and how do you see the fight going down?

You never know what to expect from an opponent until you are in there with them. He is game at times and I just have to be ready to go. These light heavyweights are decent but they don’t bring the speed, athleticism and technique that I am going to bring. I think these guys are behind. They get away with their size and toughness. I am going to bring every bit of that and everything else in there.

You said recently that you are done submitting guys. You are looking to knock out and take the life out of these guys. Is that the number one goal in there?

You always have to be systematic. I see myself getting around people and putting them in a bad position and taking the life from them, like I always do. I don’t think I have ever gone in there and looked for a submission. I don’t think I ever have. If you notice in recent years, anybody that I have got on top of I have tried to take the life out of them. I’m not in there looking for a tactical submission. I compromise people. I put myself at a leverage point and I start taking the life one shot at a time.

How has the added weight improved your training in the lead-up to this fight?

In a regular camp when I’m training, I’m there. I have the power. The only time I start losing that is when I get under 205 pounds, when I start cutting the weight to make 185. This extra few pounds is just putting that much more pressure on. I am getting those takedowns whenever I need them. I am sturdier. My legs are stronger. My core is there. I can move people. That’s all I can tell you. I can move people. They are going to feel every bit of me in every position in this fight.

We are talking a lot of the 205-pound weight class. Is the 185-pound weight class permanently in the rearview mirror?

195 is an option. That’s definitely an option.

We keep seeing more and more layers to this beef with Anthony Smith. The trash talk and back and forth is nothing new to you. It seems like it has gone off the rails. What is the latest with Smith and the war of words between you two?

I think Anthony Smith is off the rails… or he is taking too many of them. I don’t know what he is doing. I was looking for an easy fight moving up and he was right in my targets. It didn’t come to be. I said what I said. Now it looks like he has lost it. You have to compose yourself in the limelight. I don’t know anything about the kid, really. He is off the rails, or on them. One or the other.

I assume you want the quickest way to the top of the mountain at 205. A win over Jan and you are right there. Do you feel like you are next in line for a title shot?

Thiago Santos just got a title shot off beating Jan, didn’t he? I am going to go do my thing. I will focus on Jan unless something were to happen.

We are focused here. We are focused on Jan and we will handle business and we will move forward. I think it won’t take much. I have done a lot of things in this sport. I am not looking to dick around and fight bums like Anthony Smith. I want to fight the best. I am looking to go through Jan and go straight to the top.

You have accomplished so much in the sport and you have so much going for you away from the sport. What is the time frame or drop dead date for getting the UFC Light Heavyweight gold?

I want what I want. I want to fight Jon. I don’t put dates on these things. I want what I want and that’s the light heavyweight title. That’s the goal in mind. You set goals in life. Goals keep you going. This is the current goal. Once we get to that stage in life we will set another one. This is the way I work.

What goal could you possibly set for yourself if you were to capture the UFC Light Heavyweight title?

The heavyweight title. If I got there what else would there be? I enjoy eating so much I will just keep moving on.