UFC lightweight Chris Duncan has discussed the pressure of fighting at UFC London ahead of his second O2 Arena bout on July 22.
The Scotsman takes on Yanal Ashmouz on the early prelims and will be looking to build on his debut win from UFC 286.
When the UFC returns to the UK, they love to fill the card with British talent for the fans to enjoy. However, for the fighters this comes with many pressures that often go under the radar.
The 30-year-old spoke about this factor in an exclusive interview with Combat Sports UK.
He said: “There was a lot of pressure on me last time, only because the Contender Series was filming me. There was a lot of pressure in that sense.
“Home fight, first fight in the UFC, debut – I think there’s a statistic that’s like 80% of UFC fighters lose their first UFC fight. Obviously, I lost my Contender Series [fight] due to weight cuts but we’ll not dwell on that, that’s in the past and I’m done with that now.
“I got the chance to go on the Contender Series twice and the second time around it felt like home, so this time it’s gonna be the exact same. I know where the hotel is, I know the script, I know how it all works so I’m looking forward to putting on a performance for 20,000 people.”
Chris Duncan on the Game Plan For His Opponent at UFC London
Ashmouz also competed at UFC 286 back in March where he brutally knocked out British debutant Sam Patterson, silencing the British crowd.
The undefeated Israeli returns to the UK with the same goal in mind but Duncan has a game plan in mind to stifle the 28-year-old.
He said: “We’ve got a game plan that I don’t wanna touch on too much.
“We know each other’s attributes, he knows that I have power, I know that he has power. It’s my job to slip and slide and get out of the road of those punches.
“That’s the main one, be safe, make sure I don’t get hit because it’s the f*cking UFC. It’s the top calibre fight promotion in the world, everybody’s going to have an attribute that you’re gonna have to work towards so it’s my job and my coaches job to work a way around this.
“I’m gonna show my full game once again, I wanna put it on this guy, I wanna make him feel like he’s in the trenches. I’m gonna show him what it’s like to be in there with a real lightweight.”
Chris Duncan Full Exclusive Interview
You can watch the full interview with Duncan below:
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
