Going into my UFC 145 bout against Eddie Yagin, I was well motivated and felt I had very good training. I knew what the major concerns were in the fight and it was basically the power he has in his strikes.
As expected, that was the only thing he really had in the fight. I dominated on points, in accuracy, and in shots landed. However, the shots he landed were power shots and I think that’s why the judges swayed his way.
I’m a slow starter, that’s just been my style, I’d rather come out slow. So in the first round, I was feeling him out and aside from the knockdown I felt I started gaining momentum as the clock went up.
The shot that knocked me down was a well-delivered uppercut. He throws the overhand because he’s a short fighter, so I covered for an overhand and he turned into an uppercut so it did kind of surprise me. The shots that you don’t see coming are always the ones that do a lot more damage.
But I was there the whole time, I was aware of the knockdown, I was aware of him on top of me and I started to recover. It was more like a flash if anything, unlike my last fight, where Chan Sung Jung put me out and I came back afterward. It was a flash knockdown, I was still defending myself, I was still attacking from the ground and that’s why he stood back up.
The second round was more of the same thing, I felt like I was gaining momentum, I was trying to listen to my corner, I started adding shots and they began to accumulate as I started finding my range. But the second knockdown was more he knocked me over than anything, because I blocked the shot, and I think he almost knocked me off-balance.
I was moving backward as he hit me and it kind of knocked me over. There was absolutely no long-term damage on that because I was fighting right away and that’s why he stood up. And I felt from there that I took over the fight.
In between rounds, I actually I thought I was tied on the scorecards. When I went back to the corner, Jeff Curran was saying that the round was tight, and that I had to come out strong in the third. And I was almost like, “Really, I thought I won that.” That was my mindset.
But I have trust in Jeff and he gave me a lot of confidence and so that meant I had to go hard in the third round and try to finish, which I felt I did.
I knew he would be hard to finish, I was just trying to accumulate my strikes, and I was really trying to hit the body and make him want to quit. I felt that was the one thing if I had of thrown more combinations, I think I would have put him away. I was pushing the pace, I was trying to land shots and definitely trying to finish.
Everyone’s wondering why didn’t I go for a takedown, but Eddie’s most dangerous move is the guillotine, so shooting in on him would have put me in trouble. Again I felt I could have put him away with my punches, and that’s what I was trying to do.
I was devastated when he ended up getting the decision. I just wanted to win so bad and I thought I did enough. The stats show it, the crowd showed it, but again it doesn’t matter what all those things say; the judges say he won, and I have to agree with it.
Winning the $65,000 Fight of the Night bonus absolutely helped with the disappointment though. I was at the hospital after the fight and I was getting updates round-by-round from the fights after mine, because I knew I’d be in the running so I definitely had my fingers crossed.
I was actually sitting beside Eddie when we both got the news that we had won it, and I kind of gave him a hug. It was pretty exciting to share that with him. When we first saw each other, we gave a high-five and said we knew it would be that kind of battle.
We had nothing but respect for one another. We’re both veterans of the sport, it’s nice to see you can kind of go through a battle like that and have mutual respect afterwards.
I believe the loss is one of those that doesn’t really set me back that much. Just because if the judges would have said I had won, I could have been celebrating now.
I’ll be looking to definitely fight on the Toronto card in September. If the UFC wants me on that card, that would be the one I’d be pushing for. And if anything, I’m going to try to lobby for a rematch with Eddie. It was the Fight of the Night, and it was a close enough fight that people could question it. If they do it, great, but I’m pushing for the rematch, because it’s a fight I think I won.
I already started running again on Tuesday, but I’m going to take a month off from sparring.
I’ve had a couple wars lately, and I think it’s going to be good for me to get a little refresh and just work on some technical skills and my fitness.
And in the meantime, my focus is on my daughter Raeya’s first birthday, which is on the May 14 and we’re going to have a party two days before.
Thanks again to all my fans for their support. I’ll be back hopefully stronger than ever.