Ricardo Palacios picked up a big win at Liddell vs. Ortiz 3, and he’s not sweating the fact that he missed weight for the bout, comfortable knowing that he puts family before fighting.
Ricardo Palacios was one of the biggest winners at Liddell vs. Ortiz 3 on Saturday night, finishing off UFC veteran Walel Watson with a head kick in the first round. The main card fight should have been a shining moment for Palacios, who entered the night off a win on Dana White’s Tuesday Night Contender Series. There was only one problem: Palacios missed weight for the catchweight fight.
Still, it was a big moment, and just being part of the historic card was a great experience for the Combate Americas veteran. “Being on PPV, that’s a big goal for me. Being in this moment, Tito Ortiz-Chuck Liddell, it’s just amazing,” he told Cageside Press following the event.
“I’m doing something that many fighters in the world would not be able to do in their lives,” he pointed out, “and be with two pioneers, or two legends, in the cage with Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, one of the biggest rivalries in MMA history.”
It’s a big break for Palacios, who a year ago was pulled from Combate’s one-night Copa Combate tournament for missing weight. He’s managed to stay relevant since, however. “I just fought in Las Vegas for the Contender Series. So I’m still active. Combate’s not the end of the road, like they say. Now we’ve got Golden Boy MMA, Dana White’s Contender Series, there’s a lot of promotions out there.”
The problem, however, remains the weight cut. Palacios has missed weight a handful of times in his career cutting to bantamweight, beyond just the Copa Combate incident. At Liddell vs. Ortiz 3, he missed the mark for a 140lb catchweight, weighing in at 142lbs.
“It’s just, I know everybody does it, for me it’s extremely hard. Having a full time job, getting home late, trying to put in training, I’ve got my kids,” he explained. He’s not blind to the fact that other fighters go through similar issues. “Everybody has a lot, I’m not making an excuse. It’s just extremely hard.”
“Honest truth, I leave my fighting to the end. Take care of my family first, then fighting,” he admitted, adding that weight and distractions have “always been an issue. I’ve always had businesses, I’ve always tried to provide money and food, and pay the bills and make sure my family’s okay.” Finding the balance has been as issue.
For Ricardo Palacios, however, in the end, the money he’s giving up isn’t that much of a concern. “Giving back a little bit of money doesn’t really matter. At the end of the day I’ve got to go home, got to go get back to work on Monday, and see [whether] my manager’s going to hit me up, see whatever fight’s going to come up,” he said. “So I’m not really giving up much, because I go home and I go back to my life.”
