THE CANADIAN PRESS
It’s a new beginning for T.J. Grant, who has spent 2011 waiting to get back into the cage.
The 27-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., hasn’t fought since last December when he dropped a unanimous decision to Ricardo (Big Dog) Almeida at UFC 124 in Montreal.
He was slated to meet first Matt Riddle and then Charlie (The Spaniard) Brenneman in June, only to fall ill on the eve of the fight.
Restored to health — he has not disclosed the nature of the illness — Grant is back and looking to make his debut at lightweight against Shane Roller on Saturday’s televised UFC card at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
The fight is on the undercard of Dominick Cruz’s bantamweight title defence against Demetrious (Mighty Mouse) Johnson.
"All I can say is it wasn’t anything major," Grant said of his illness. "It didn’t last more than like two weeks."
Still, the delay meant another wait for a fight.
Grant (16-5) had essentially been told by the UFC to be ready to fight any time after the Almeida fight. The constant training started to cut into his weight, opening the possibility to move down from welterweight (170 pounds) to lightweight (155).
"I made the decision pretty much before we even accepted the Matt Riddle fight," said Grant. "We took the fight but I knew that was going to my last fight at welterweight."
The five-foot-10 Grant was not a big welterweight, walking around normally at about 185 pounds.
"I was going in there giving up a lot of size and a lot of muscle. Guys are coming in at 190 pounds — with abs," he said. "And I don’t really have any abs and I’m about 180 (fight night)."
All he had to do to make weight was "eat good for a couple of days before the fight."
And not all of his weight was of the good kind.
"I was carrying around a lot of extra weight that I didn’t need to. I just had to get on a good diet, stick to it, be disciplined. Now I’m walking around comfortably in the mid- to high- 160s, no problem."
"I feel good, I feel faster, I feel like I’m going to match up strength-wise very well with these guys," he added.
Grant is hoping the move will end a yo-yo 3-3 record in the UFC that has seen him alternate wins and losses.
"I think it’s the best decision. My training’s never been better," he said. "Definitely it’s going to be a new beginning. I think fans are going to see a totally different fighter, a totally different game."
Roller (10-4) went 6-2 in the WEC and is 1-1 in the UFC.
The 32-year-old is a former all-American wrestler coming off a first-round TKO at the hands of Melvin (The Young Assassin) Guillard.
Grant and Roller actually worked out together briefly in July when the Canadian spent some time in Johny Hendricks’ training camp.
"Little bit of an awkward situation but not too bad," said Grant, who learned about the Roller matchup later. "We’re both professionals, we know what it’s all about."
Hendricks, who beat Grant at UFC 113, and Roller were teammates at Oklahoma State University.
The Grant-Roller fight will be shown live on Facebook.
